The Wedding Singer, Monday 27th February, New Theatre, Reviewer: Maria Mellor

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When the lights went down and the actors came out on stage, my initial reaction was confusion. Having seen the Adam Sandler film on which the play is based, I thought I had known what to expect but it was definitely not this. I felt like never before in my life had I seen such high-energy dancing and so many bright colours. To be fair it set up my expectations for the rest of the show.

ItÔÇÖs about a wedding singer whoÔÇÖs about to get married who gets dumped on his wedding day, only to fall in love with a woman who is engaged to someone else.

Every musical number hit me right in the face, the ones from the movie blending pretty seamlessly with those written for the stage musical. I think there may have been a slight bit of confusion as to who it was aimed at as at the beginning one character wouldnÔÇÖt even say ÔÇÿassÔÇÖ but it slowly descended into casual swearing and mimed blow-jobs – maybe having something at the beginning to give us some warning would’ve been nice.

I loved the sets, they were used cleverly so that just two or three set pieces could be used for multiple scenes.┬áI canÔÇÖt imagine it being on Broadway (even though it was back in 2006) as itÔÇÖs a bit pantomimey in places. ThereÔÇÖs one song that made me cringe where RobbieÔÇÖs grandmother and bandmate do a rap about how itÔÇÖs ÔÇÿnever too lateÔÇÖ, and emotions were highly exaggerated. Nevertheless it was a fun evening out and I enjoyed myself.

by Maria Mellor