Theater Review: The Wedding Singer

by Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

I bought the T-shirt. I would have bought the mug but they didn’t have any to offer so I bought the T-shirt instead. I seldom ever buy souvenir stuff of shows I see because, frankly, I see so much I’d be broke and my overflowing condo would burst at the seams. I can honestly say I’m now a fan of The Wedding Singer.

When the Adam Sandler movie came out years ago I waited for it to come out on VHS and rented. It was cute. Yawn. Some more cuteness. Yawn. Sweet ending. Forgotten. A few years zoomed by and all of a sudden it was a Broadway show. “Gosh they must be desperate for a subject matter to make a musical,” I thought to myself. Then there it was on my TV, they did an excerpt on the Tony’s. The Wedding Singer was up for a bunch of Tony award nominations! How could this be? Was Broadway theatre so down in the dumps they were going to nominate anything that ran for over a month? The critics had dismissed this show. Not horrible reviews but they hadn’t gushed about it. How could it possibly have gotten to be a Tony contender for all the major categories?

I found my answers to these questions Tuesday night at the Fair Park Music Hall where the national tour was kicking off. The show, though based on the movie, is far removed from the film. It’s an entire new show!

Halfway through the middle of Act 1, I was guffawing at the use of the F-bomb. The language had become quite salty, and it was being used to great effect. Near the end of Act 1, the love song “Come Out of the Dumpster” had me in hysterics for it was unlike any love song I had ever heard in a Broadway show. The show was so subversive and smart that all thoughts of the original film had vanished. At intermission I checked the program. I usually do that when I get home. A-HA! A lot of the creative team behind this musical was responsible for the ultimate subversive Broadway show: Urinteown. I fully understood why this show received the accolades from the public and the theatre wing responsible for the Tony’s. I must note that Tim Herlihy who wrote the film then co-wrote the book for the musical with Chad Beguelin, a Saturday Night Live alum; he obviously had much more free reign and therefore added more of an edge then what Hollywood would have allowed.

The Wedding Singer isn’t just a rehash of the film, it’s a skewered and absurdist farce. It pokes fun at how everything we see as being hip and modern really never is, and how fickle we all are. Yes the story has dumb jokes, groan-inducing puns, and a set of visual gags that are so corny they will make you gag. But at the same time for anyone who was living in the 80’s, the musical sharply pokes fun at all those things we thought were cool, so right, so modern, and would last forever. By default the show is telling us look around you, what you think is hot is not, and nothing ever is; see it for what it is for in 15 years it really won’t matter, and you’ll laugh at it. So for all the outrageous and goofy comedy, there is a heft to this musical that gives it substance.

I must say that it is a truly delightful show. I grinned from ear to ear. It was like drinking a frothy chilled coke float. Merrit David Janes who plays they lead Robbie Hart warmed up after the first couple of numbers, and once he kicked in, he was truly adorably “nice” as his character is supposed to be and his tenor voice is fabulous. Erin Elizabeth Coors who plays his love interest was impeccably sweet in that saccharine mode that makes you smile, for though it’s over the top she somehow manages to make it seem believable. Her soprano melds beautifully with Mr. Janes’ voice. Sassing it up are the supporting characters Sarah Peak, a wannabe Madonna; John Jacob Lee, a wannabe Boy George; Mark Raumaker, a wannabe Donald Trump; Andrea Andert, a wannabe Pat Benatar; and Penny Larsen, a wannabe Dr. Ruth. This kooky ensemble danced, sang, and worked the stage. They hit all the right marks, delivered the double and triple entedres, and had a moment to steal the show. Even the ensemble that gets to do a multitude of small parts was tight. No weak links here.

The original director was John Rando, and for the tour it was Paul Stancato. I have no way to compare the two since I didn’t see the original Broadway show. I can say that the direction was seamless, and there were tons of moments of inspired lunacy that were obviously created by the director. The choreography by Rob Ashford and Chris Bailey was sensational. The milked every 80’s dance cliché for all it’s worth, yet none of it ever tired. Just when I thought they couldn’t top themselves they did. The nice thing about the show at Fair Park is that it’s freshly minted since the tour kicks off here. The dancing is as tight as any show you’ll see in New York. Frequently after a tour has been playing the dancing gets a little sloppy, that is not the case here; it is drill team precision.

The only areas of problem were sound at first, though the technical crew got it mostly fixed by the third song, and at one point the lighting and that too got worked out. Both of these were minor snafus that were fixed during the performance and probably won’t be repeated for the rest of the run.

The extensive musical score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin is not the catchiest outside of the “Dumpster” song and “It’s Your Wedding Day.” This is in part because most of the songs are rip-offs of other 80’s tunes. In other words, they sound sort of like famous 80’s tunes without actually being them. The musical score captures the sounds of bands like Culture Club, Beastie Boys, Duran Duran, Heart, Flock of Seagulls, etc. The focus on the music is to recreate those sounds without actually using songs from the era. It is a very well conceived score though not one you’ll go home humming to yourself.

There is a moment in Act 2 that happens in Vegas where the stage is full of impersonators. We recognize Tina Turner, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, but there is another woman, in a Dynasty style dress looking all mean and serious. Is she Asian? Not really. Hispanic? Not quite. I couldn’t place her. The characters mention everyone by their aka names but do not say anything to or about this fourth woman. Was a line dropped? Is the resemblance so off the mark that this show has managed to have a glaring flaw? This goes on. Then when the I’ve completely forgotten about her a character blurts out “Who the Hell are you?” Another replies for the mystery woman “an Imelda Marcos impersonator.” The entire audience looses it and roars. We all in the audience had obviously been thinking the same thing. The fact was she really looked the like the spitting image of Imelda. How soon we forget. The joke was on us, and we recognized it. Brilliant. What had seemed so important and unforgettable twenty years ago had become trivial and inconsequential.

The message of this musical: Enjoy the moment, and seize it. It is nice to be reminded of this every now and then. And wow! Who’da thunk it? I LOVE this musical.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Wedding Singer until April 27. Purchase tickets online or by calling 214-631-ARTS.