The Wedding Singer

‘The Wedding Singer’ is an adaptation of the 1998 film of the same name recalling the fashion and music of the 1980’s. It follows the tumultuous life of wedding singer Robbie Hart after he has been jilted at the altar and then falls in love with Julia, who is about to be married to Glen!! The numerous characters in the show enabled every cast member to have an individual role, many, playing several parts. All of the main characters were great, infact you could say that about everyone who appeared on stage but I cannot mention them all. Dan Richardson gave an outstanding performance as Robbie Hart. He had a great feeling for the role and both his singing and acting were superb. His many songs, from the sensitive to the raucous, were all splendidly delivered but I particularly loved the moment when he walked down the aisle playing a guitar, singing ‘Grow Old With You’ it was just such a beautiful moment. Robbie’s bandmates Luke Grainger as Sammy and Brett Waller as George (a kind of Boy George wannabe) both gave strong characterisations. Brett was  brilliant as George, his outfits and mannerisms were glorious and how he managed to totter about in those high heels was nothing short of miraculous. The two girls in Robbie’s life Linda, his ex, played by Emily Cowley and Julia, his new love, played by Laura Howard were excellent. Both were good actors and had fabulous singing voices as too, had Fay Miles as Julia’s cousin and best friend, Holly. Jonathan Dawkins, as Julia’s banker boyfriend Glen, oozed confidence as he arrogantly swaggered about the stage and his number ‘All About the Green’ with Robbie and ‘Suits’ was a show stopper. Judith Cliff was suitably outrageous as Robbie’s Grandma. As I have aleady said there were some extremely accomplished performances from the cast and the enthusiasm and energy from everyone on stage was infectious. Add into this good dance routines, colourful costumes, numerous wedding gowns, some ‘stylised’ props, good lighting and sound and an absolutely terrific band, it really was an electrifying, fun night.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.