The morning of the eve I was due to go and watch The Wedding Singer on stage, I watched the film at home. I couldn’t remember if I’d seen it before or not. I had. That’s the thing with Adam Sandler films; if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen most of them. I like him, he’s funny, in that samey samey kind of way and it’s almost like the characters are created for his specific style of acting. So in my mind, I’m not only watching to see how Jon Robyns plays the title role as Robbie Hart, but also how he plays Adam Sandler playing Robbie Hart. That could be a little unfair of me, as I guess characters are open to interpretation in different adaptations, but there’s a certain cheeky charm that needs to be portrayed in this role that makes Sandler’s characters so interchangeable most of the time.
The danger of watching the film only shortly before watching the musical, is, that as above, I’m going to be making too many comparisons maybe, rather than looking at the latter on its own merits. A musical, set in the 80s, based on a chap that sings at weddings. So you can expect lots of 80s hits to sing along to as you walk down Nostalgia Boulevard, right? Wrong. There is almost nothing 80s about any of the show other than the costumes, a DeLorean, and the huge ‘mobile’ phones that were the accessory of any self-respecting yuppie back then. Not a whimper of Wham, a drop of Duran Duran, or a bump of Bon Jovi. I found this rather disappointing. Some of the musical numbers did stick in my head, ‘Saturday Night in the City’, and ‘All About the Green’ were my favourites, but probably only because they were the most lively and brought my attention back to what was going on.
The plot is very simple, almost too simple. Wedding Singer Gets jilted at his own wedding, he then meets a girl, Julia (Cassie Compton), who is engaged to Glen Gulia (Ray Quinn of Xfactor and Dancing on Ice fame), Glen is a not a nice person, Robbie and Julia slowly fall in love, Robbie declares his love, they live happily ever after. That’s about the long and short of it. No major plot twists, nothing to stimulate the imagination, just a bit…bland. It’s a shame. For a show advertised as a hilarious muical, it wasn’t that hilarious, either. It had it’s moments, the occasional swear word sprinkled in for a bit of naughtiness, and a surreal moment when Billy Idol, Mr T, and Ronald Regan, amongst a few other showed up on stage; a quick reminder that this was the 80s, after all.
The cast did very well with what they had to work with. Going back to my initial apprehension of whether Robyns would play a good Sandler playing Hart, he really did. He was every bit the cheeky, charming, chap I was expecting and hoping for, with the added bonus that he could actually sing and dance, too. And he could play a cracking tune or two on the guitar. Quinn was also a very good Gulia, and has been commented that his experience on the West End and Xfactor certainly shone through in his performance. Although I’m sat here wondering if maybe Robyns and Quinn might have been a bit better suited playing each others roles. The supporting cast were equally as good, notably Ashley Ermerson as Sammy, and Samuel Holmes as George.
I don’t really think this works as a musical, nothing really grabbed me. The actors can dance and hold a note, but I don’t think The Wedding Singer musical really honours their talent. You’ll enjoy it if you go, but I just don’t think you’d be fussed if you don’t.
Review by John Banks
The Wedding Singer is showing at Nottingham Theatre Royal tomorrow night tickets from £16 available here
