The Wedding Singer

This musical comedy is based on the 1998 film and tells the story of a wedding singer in 1985 who falls in love with a waitress. The set was well thought out, with Robbie’s bedroom to one side and a raised area at the back for the band. This left plenty of room for the dancing. Costumes and makeup were wonderfully 80’s and the bright colours really brought the stage to life.

The wedding singer, Robbie Hart, was fabulous particularly in the more comical scenes. He really understood the character and also sang well. His duets with Julia ‘If I told you’ and ‘Grow old with you’ provided some lovely poignant moments in the show and were sung with real heartfelt emotion, which was a nice contrast to the big numbers.

Julia, the waitress, had a stunning singing voice as well as being a confident actress. ‘Come out of the Dumpster’’ was particularly well performed by Julia and Robbie and her reprise of ‘Someday’ was beautiful.

Sammy had real stage presence and gave a great performance. He worked well with George, providing many of the comedy moments in the show. George, dressed as the legendry Boy George, had great characterisation. ‘George’s Prayer’, which sounds remarkably like ‘True’ by Spandau Ballet at the beginning was great, as was his rap duet with Grandma.

Holly had some great numbers. ‘Pop’ was wonderfully 80’s and performed really well by Holly, Angie and the girls. I also really enjoyed ‘Saturday Night in the City’. 

Glen Guglia, along with the company, delivered one of the best numbers in the show, ‘All about the Green’ and played the unlikeable, money orientated fiancé of Julia well.

Rosie, the Grandma, was simply fabulous. She was hilarious from beginning to end and well and truly stole the show with her antics. The bedroom scene and her rap with George ‘Move that thang’ were particularly stand-out. In fact, every scene with Grandma in it was memorable! Very well done.

Linda, Robbie’s former fiancé, performed a great song on her return ‘Let me come home’ which showed off her strong rock voice brilliantly.

Lighting was really good and gave an excellent party feel to the show. However, the LED movers at the very front of the stage swept up very slowly on several occasions and completely blinded those of us in the stalls. It meant we had to keep closing our eyes and missed some of the dancing, which was a shame. The choreography was very good with some great dance numbers. I especially loved the boy’s performance of ‘Single’. There was lots for the chorus to do and the lively numbers had the audience clapping along, especially the finale ‘It’s your wedding day’. This group really knows how to put on a lively show, with lots of energy, great costumes and set and an infectious enthusiasm that never fails to send the audience on their way with a smile. Loved it! 

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