Photo by: Chris Daniels – Chris Daniels Productions
Presented by Marie Clark Musical Theatre
Reviewed 23 May 2015
I’m pretty sure I know what most of the younger crowd will be thinking about a musical adaption of Adam Sandler’s 1998 film The Wedding Singer: “That’s lame”, they might say… Well, they’re not exactly wrong about that but Marie Clark Musical Theatre’s performance of the broadway musical adaption is definitely a fun kind of lame. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe and surely have a good time!
Director Max Rayner and musical director Ben Stefanoff, with a lot of help from Choreographer Rachel Dow, have done a marvelous job of bringing the stage musical adaption of this hit 80s-retro comedy to the Adelaide stage. With incredible set pieces, a very talented band, diverse and energetic ensemble and a superb lead cast, this production definitely makes the best out of (arguably) cringe-worthy source material.
I think the best call made in casting was to have Rohan Watts, veteran Adelaidian performer of all stripes, playing the wedding singer Robbie Hart. Watts is nothing like Sandler what-so-ever, and that’s definitely a good thing. While we lose a bit of Sandler’s classic goofiness from the character, we gain Watts’ amazing voice and charismatic stage presence.
Tegan Gully is a fantastic Julia, the soon-to-be-married love interest. She’s cute, bubbly and loveable with an amazing voice and great vocal control. George (played by Damien Quick) was another crowd favourite. Quick manages to pull off the Boy George character almost better than his movie counterpart, even if he goes a little over-the-top at points. Sarah Wildy as devious Linda, and Gavin Cianci as Julia’s fiancé, Glen Guglia, are absolute dead-ringers for their movie counterparts. It’s almost eerie how well this whole production was cast!
Tim Herlihy (the screenwriter of the original film) produced some great musical numbers for the broadway adaption, so there wasn’t much need to change anything dramatically. Most of the songs in this performance are catchy, lively and definitely very “musical theatre”. The infusion of sarcastic 90s comedy stylings and 80s pop-culture references definitely serve to make them even better. I will admit, I was sceptical at first, but The Wedding Singer seems like it was almost made to be a musical.
There still remains a level of unavoidable awkwardness in The Wedding Singer, which is basically the result of the original script. Things like the hip-hopping granny might have been funny in the late nineties, but now I think we’ve moved on. Adam Sandler himself has lost his comedic charm (quite a while ago, actually) and so it’s definitely a good move to cast someone so different to him to play his part.
Despite the initial awkwardness (and the painfully, sugary-sweet ending), The Wedding Singer is full of classic gags, delightful musical numbers and impressive sets and costumes. Congratulations to the whole team for another smashing performance!
Reviewed by James Rudd
Twitter: @james_wrr
Venue: The Arts Theatre, 53 Angas St
Season: 22 – 30 May
Duration: 2 hours plus 20 minute intermission
Tickets: $25.00 – $33.00
Bookings: through Marie Clark Website http://www.marieclark.asn.au/tickets/
Marie Clark Musical Theatre website http://www.marieclark.asn.au/
Marie Clark Musical Theatre Twitter https://twitter.com/_MarieClark
More News
