by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
I’m not ashamed to admit my love for the 80s. From the music to the hair, it’s the decade I would most like to re-visit if I had a time machine and a pair of hot pink leggings. My affection for this page in history fuels my soft spot for The Wedding Singer, a musical set in the mid-80s packed with pop culture references, colorful characters and a sweet story about finding love where you least expect it. The Wedding Singer was nominated for 5 Tony Awards and is in town this week as part of the FCCJ Broadway Series.
It’s 1985 and Robbie Hart and his band, Simply Wed, are the biggest wedding performers in the Garden State. Singing about love came easy to Robbie when his own nuptials were in the works. But when his fiancée Linda leaves him at the alter, Robbie’s entire world comes crashing down. It isn’t until he meets a charming young waitress named Julia that he sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The problem is Julia is herself engaged to the high-rolling, less than faithful Glen.
The Wedding Singer is a fairly close adaptation to the popular 1998 film of the same name starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Many of the scenes lift dialogue directly from the movie, so fans can expect to hear most of the flick’s most memorable quotes. Small changes to characters and settings made the film-to-stage transition more viable. The major difference between the musical and the movie is the score. The stage version is all original “80s inspired” songs, no covers. You can definitely detect bits and pieces of your favorite 80s hits- a bit of Spandau Ballet’s ‘True’ here, a riff from Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ there- but never the real deal. This could be an issue for some, but for me it was a plus. It was fun to try and pick out all the subtle musical nods to that era’s biggest hit makers.
The performances were, for the most part, outstanding. Merritt David Janes was great as Robbie Hart. While he did channel Sandler during a few scenes, Janes mostly made the character his own. His Robbie is more realistic and sweet while Sandler’s came off a bit over-the-top. Erin Elizabeth Coors did a fine job of bringing some life to the bland Julia character and Sarah Peak made Holly far more lovable than her slightly slutty film alter-ego. John Jacob Lee (who plays Simply Wed’s flamboyant keyboardist, George) and Andrea Andert had relatively minor roles (Andert was only on stage twice as Linda) but delivered the most memorable performances. Both got huge laughs during their scenes and sang sublimely. The weakest performance came from Penny Larsen, who plays Rosie. Throughout the show she seemed to be reciting lines instead of truly becoming the character. I can’t give her too much of a hard time, though, since she and John Jacob Lee brought the house down with their hip-hop routine toward the end of the second act. The scene worked well in the movie, but it’s much, much better here. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard during a stage production.
Like the film, The Wedding Singer is a PG-13 show. I spied a mother and her small child leaving the theater after a devastated, bitter Robbie sings his ode to lost love “Somebody Kill Me Please.” The language is a little on the dirty side at times and there are plenty of references to sex and cocaine use, so it would probably be best to get a babysitter should you have little ones. Better yet, if you’re unfamiliar with the film, watch it before attending the show so you know what to expect.
I saw The Wedding Singer with some friends and every one of us had a terrific time. Three in our party hadn’t seen the film before but still loved the musical (and they all walked out planning to buy or rent the movie as soon as possible). If you’re already a fan of the story or enjoy thinking back on the decade that brought us Mr. Belvedere, New Coke and MTV, you can’t go wrong with The Wedding Singer. This Broadway musical will only be in town until Sunday, November 11th, so catch it while you can!
For more info or to buy tickets to The Wedding Singer call (904) 632-3373 or go to artistseries.fccj.org.
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