The Wedding Singer

Robbie Hart is everyone's favourite wedding singer, he is full of life and happiness, making sure each wedding party goes with a swing. That is until Linda, his fiancée, dumps him at the altar. From that moment Robbie can't stand to see other people happy and, much to the distress of his band mates, Sammy and George, he sets about ruining each happy couples celebrations. Linda, a waitress at the functions he plays at, becomes a friend and eventually they start to fall in love have. However, Linda is engaged to be married to wall Street shark, Glen. when Robbie realises how he feels about Linda and how badly Glenn is treating her he knows that this is one wedding he has to put a stop to.

The wedding singer has a mix of music from pop to rock, it is an upbeat show with tunes that will have audiences remembering the' good old days' of the 80's (If they happen to be old enough!). The script is full of comedy moments and the characters are definitely larger than life. I think one word to describe this show is 'fun'.

The script is quite a weak one but five towns made the most of it and certainly brought it to life with the music and choreography. I would advise that time is spent on projection and diction to ensure the audience can fully hear what is going on, particularly the scripted jokes, remember this is the first time the audience have heard it. The set worked well and it was lovely to see the revolve used so effectively. It did seem at times that all the action was taking place towards the back of the stage and more use of the front area and apron would have been effective and enable the audience to feel involved in the 'party'. Costumes were a little random but captured the 80's feel.

There were some lovely principal performances. Rhys, as Robbie Hart, was a very loveable character who we easily felt sorry for when heartbroken by his fiancée. Good vocals and some lovely comedy moments. Abby Evans, playing Linda,  was vocally strong and conveyed emotions well through her delivery of both songs and dialogue. Sammy and George, Sohail and Jude, were great characters providing many a laugh. Teague Davis, as the philandering Glen, characterised the part well with the audience boos at the end providing confirmation of this. Kloee Tomkinson, playing Linda, was a great little rock chick, those numbers were a hard sing and she handled them with confidence and ease. Rosie Hart, Robbie's Grandma, performed by Katie Leath, is a gem of a part for any character actress and although Katie was far to young to play this role she played it with gusto, making the most of her stage time. Natasha Dawe, as Linda's friend, Holly certainly got the audience dancing in the final number of act one, Saturday Night In The City. Strong vocals and choreography meant the audience went to the bar in a very upbeat mood.

The company in this show worked well together, there was a life and energy about them which shone from the stage. I was impressed to see the dancing skills of even the youngest on stage and how well the choreography was executed. A well done also has to go to the impersonators, Linda's and Glenn's wedding towards the end of the show has to be one of the funniest scenes.

Well done to all involved in this production the audience was certainly an appreciative one and all your hard work paid off.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.