The Wedding Singer: Something To Celebrate

In Santa's workshop of musical theatre, The Wedding Singer would have been shipped to the Island of Misfit Toys. It ain't a pretty show, but with its arch sense of humor and intentional tackiness, The Wedding Singer proudly exalts its awkwardness in the most entertaining way imaginable. It took eleven months to happen, but the 2005-06 Broadway season finally has a fast, loveable, laugh-yourself-silly musical comedy.

The running joke behind The Wedding Singer, and it's an affectionate joke, is how regular working-class suburban folks try and glamorize their lives by emulating the stars they see on TV and in the movies. By 1985, the year the show takes place, MTV had been broadcasting pop culture into our living rooms 24 hours a day for four years. Never before had average Americans such continuous access to the latest in popular music, dances and fashion styles. Of course, the looks and moves of Michael Jackson and Madonna don't look good on everyone, so when the curtain goes up on Act I, we're in the middle of a wedding reception where guests dance "Thriller" and "Flashdance" steps with far more enthusiasm than expertise. They're not clumsy. Just not quite right. As the story unfolds we meet characters who reinvent themselves as imitations of 80's media stars; some to the extent where they've made a career out of it. While choreographer Rob Ashford and costume designer Gregory Gale quote the Reagan years liberally, they do so in a raw, comical manner consistent with each character's degree of celebrity worship. Director John Rando does an excellent job of keeping the tone of the show sympathetic, having fun with the era without ever mocking it. The result is joyous and giddy musical comedy.

Oh yes, there's a plot…

Tim Herlihy has teamed with Chad Beguelin to adapt his screenplay for the 1998 film for the musical stage. The title character goes by the name of Robbie Hart, a nice Jersey guy who's the lead singer and songwriter for a popular garage band that specializes in playing weddings. Though it doesn't earn him a lot of money, Robbie really loves knowing that he helps bring pleasure to people on the most important day of their lives. He's a good guy and a true romantic.

But when his fiancé dumps him at the altar, Robbie's dark, bitter side surfaces. Julia, a waitresses at many of his gigs, offers support and friendship when Robbie gets tossed into a dumpster after letting his temporary "love stinks" attitude loose in the middle of a reception. Julia is engaged to a long-time friend who has become less available for her as his corporate career skyrockets. When Robbie starts tagging along to help her make wedding arrangements, they develop a strong friendship that gradually grows into love. But neither is willing to express their feelings because Julia doesn't know if she can give up the promise of a home and security she has with her intended and Robbie doesn't think he can offer her much of a future. 

It's a sweet story, but the authors never let it get soupy. The book is consistently funny, even during romantic scenes, though you'll need a decent knowledge of 80's pop culture to get all the jokes. (Although the reference to "Pong" really belongs in a 70's musical.) Beguelin's lyrics, combined with Matthew Sklar's music, provide a light and catchy score that's derivative of the sounds of the period but perfectly in tune with the plot and characters. (Fans of the film will recognize two songs by Adam Sandler and Herlihy, which have been retained.) The authors are all making very impressive Broadway debuts.

Also making an impressive Broadway debut – his professional acting debut, in fact – is the comedic singer/songwriter Stephen Lynch. Though his role of Robbie isn't especially demanding in the singing and dancing departments, he carries off the assignment with the poise and good-natured charm of a musical comedy veteran. He's perfectly cast as a funny, but sincere hero who has you pulling for him right from the start. He and Broadway vet Laura Benanti have terrific chemistry, she being the more sensible one but still with an attractive, starry-eyed gleefulness.

They're backed by a dynamite supporting cast. Amy Spanger offers her usual sizzle as Julia's cousin, who fashions herself after Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan. Matthew Saldivar is a blast as her tough-talking softie of an ex-boyfriend, also Robbie's bandmate. The eccentric Kevin Cahoon is boyishly fun as the band's Boy George wannabe and Richard H Blake is the figure of airbrushed cockiness as Julia's fiancée.

Felicia Finley makes only one appearance in each act, but brings down the house both times as Robbie's glam-haired, rocker chick ex-fiancé. First appearing with feathered hair and a crop-top wedding gown, and later on performing some crazily seductive choreography, she's so funny you nearly forget how hot she looks.

The beloved musical theatre ingénue, Rita Gardner, forever remembered as the original Louisa in The Fantasticks, originates her first Broadway role in 35 years as Robbie's slightly tart-tongued, but wise and loving grandmother. Her singing voice and comic timing are both in splendid shape. Perhaps as a wink to Don Ameche's breakdancing in the 1985 hit film, Cocoon, Gardner performs a rap number, along with Cahoon, late in Act II. I know it sounds like an awful idea, but she makes it work beautifully.

And speaking of awful ideas, I won't even give you a hint as to how the story is resolved because the final scenes really should not work. But they do and they're a scream.

Set designer Scott Pask comes up with some fun and humorous locations, like the obligatory mall and an antiseptic corporate office, but his best work, along with lighting designer Brian MacDevitt, reveals the unexpectedly romantic side of the show. In the early stages of their friendship, Julia sings an encouraging "Come Out of the Dumpster" to a bitter and depressed Robbie who'd rather lie among the trash than have to deal with the thought of dating again. It's a quirky scene full of laughs, but if you look up above the garbage of suburbia you can see hundreds of little stars sweetly twinkling in the evening sky.

The Wedding Singer is absolutely the funniest and most impishly romantic new musical of the Broadway season. I can't wait to see it again.

Photos by Joan Marcus: Top: Stephen Lynch and Laura Benanti

Center: Amy Spanger and Matthew Saldivar

Bottom: Felicia Finley