The Wedding Singer

I was fortunate to have seen this show 366 days ago by the same group in the same theatre and, with the exception of character Sammy, the same principals. The rest of their week in 2023 was cancelled because of water damage resulting from a fire in the premises next door. I was most impressed last year and I was equally delighted with the performance this year. I am therefore giving this production the equally well deserved report that was written for that evening.  

This musical “The Wedding Singer” is a brilliant adaptation of a 1998 film of the same name. It was transferred to the stage in the USA in 2006 and made a short tour in the UK in 2008. It was then produced again in 2017 and been a popular choice for theatrical groups since then. This is the first time that I have seen the show (or the film) and was extremely delighted with the simple storyline - boy meets girl, instant attraction, a few problems and misunderstandings, marriage in final scene - and also the mainly rock music style throughout.  An excellent choice for this company of talented actors and singers.

The love interest in this production was between Robbie Hart (Stuart McAdams) and Julia Sullivan (Steph Jolly). These two worked so well together and and entertained us with their will they/won’t they moments until the very end. Robbie’s two musician friends,

Sammy (James Mitchell) and George (Finlay Hilder) enacted the hard-up band colleagues who just wanted Robbie to sing with them to enhance their coffers. Julia’s philandering boyfriend and later fiancé, Glen Guglia (Nick Porter) portrayed a convincing sleazy, back-stabbing businessman. The part of Holly (Tegan Prior) was played compassionately as a warm-hearted, supportive friend to Linda through her doubts and worries of her choice between Glen and Robbie.  

I said the music was mainly rock style but there was also a short section of Jewish style and some beautiful solo/duet work. This was sung by the above cast but there were also two others who excelled in their roles as Rosie (Marie Ball) and Linda (Charlotte Grimes)  

Their comedic singing and dialogue enhanced the generally happiness of the story. The band of four plus musical director Daniel Paine made a wonderful sound for all these genres. The choreography by Penny Woodman was a joy to watch in view of the different types of dancing required by the aforementioned mixture of moods. There was a lot of ensemble singing and this was well executed and gave the songs an added boost to their overall sound.

The scenery and properties were kept simple but effective in that it is not a huge stage for a large cast to dance on. Scene changes were live in blackout and were slick. Lighting cues and sound control were  absolutely fine. All congratulations to Kelly Manchee and company, on stage and back stage for an evening of great entertainment.

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