The Wedding Singer
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
15th - 19th August 2017
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
15th - 19th August 2017
The Wedding Singer is set in 1985; a time when Madonna was prancing around pretending to be anything but “Like a Virgin”, Princess Diana danced with John Travolta at the White House, Stevie Wonder picked up best original song award for “I Just Called to Say I Love You” and Roger Moore was sipping his last shaken and not stirred martini as James Bond.
This is a time where hair is huge, greed is good and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart (Jon Robyns: Avenue Q, Legally Blonde) is New Jersey's favourite wedding singer. When his own fiancée dumps him at the altar a seriously bummed out Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Can sweet natured Julia, (Cassie Compton: X Factor) and her best friend Holly lure Robbie out of the dumpster and back into the limelight? Or is he going to see her head off down the aisle with Wall Street bad boy Glenn (Ray Quinn: X Factor, Dancing On Ice)? Only Grandma Rosie (Ruth Madoc: Hi-De-Hi!, Little Britain) seems to be able to see that Robbie and Julia are the couple that are meant to be.
Right from the get go this musical aims to put a smile on your face. Written by Tim Herlihy, who also wrote the film of The Wedding Singer, with Chad Beguelin, the musical features an original score by Matthew Sklar and Tim Herlihy but pleasingly also includes the two songs that Adam Sandler, who played the wedding singer in the film, wrote, “Somebody Kill Me” and “Grow Old With You”.
The show contains some excellent upbeat dance numbers from its ensemble and the songs are all surprisingly catchy, from the opening number, “It's Your Wedding Day” to “All About the Green” and in particular “Single”.
This production may have, what seems to be, the touring show’s staple household names in former X Factor contestants Ray Quinn and Cassie Compton and Hi-De-Hi’s Ruth Madoc but ultimately the star of the show is Jon Robyn’s who more than proves his West End pedigree in the role of Robbie. He is a triple threat treat with his singing, dancing, and acting skills but adds a quadruple threat with some pretty nifty guitar playing and is a delight to watch.
However, that’s not to say that his fellow performers are any less capable and Cassie Compton puts in a lovely performance as Julia, really shining when she gets to show off her vocals with some of the lovely melodies in the score. Ruth Madoc as the mad as a hatter grandmother, Rosie, doesn’t have an awful lot to do to be fair but when she does, by heck you know about it! She certainly played up to the role of the quirky grandma and gave the audience plenty to chuckle about in this bonkers part. Ray Quinn is quite a cool customer in the role of jumped up, Wall Street wise guy, Glen and also shows he’s a pretty good mover in the dance department too.
There are some lovely supporting performances from Ashley Emerson as Sammy, Samuel Holmes as Boy George wannabe, George, Robbie’s friends and fellow band members and also Stephanie Clift as Julia’s friend, Holly. Mark Pearce also stood out with his many featured roles, along with a very slick ensemble cast which one would come to expect having been drilled by director and choreographer, Nick Winston.
If you’re a fan of the film, you won’t be disappointed, as this show - unsurprisingly as it’s written by the same team as the film - has all of the humour of the movie, as well as some nicely played touching moments which will have the romantic members of the audience swooning away. The only thing missing from this production is the fabulous eighties soundtrack which added to the film’s appeal. This can be forgiven though as this production’s score is enough to give a flavour of that era, particularly with “All About the Green’ which has a distinctive feel of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to it and “George’s Prayer” having undertones of Spandau Ballet’s “True”.
The Wedding Singer drew in a good opening night crowd, complete with a few gaggles of hen night ladies in sparkly tops, hoping for a good night out. They wouldn’t have been disappointed. One member of the audience told me, "I love the film of The Wedding Singer. Every time I feel down, I put it on because I know it’ll cheer me up.” This touring musical production will no doubt have the same effect. This 'wedding' guarantees to be a good, fun night out ending with a fabulous, 'feel good', climax - what more do you need to put a smile on your face at the end of the evening?
The Wedding Singer is playing at Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion from 15th to the 19th August with matinees. For tickets go online to www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
Check out our interview with Ruth Madoc here
This is a time where hair is huge, greed is good and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart (Jon Robyns: Avenue Q, Legally Blonde) is New Jersey's favourite wedding singer. When his own fiancée dumps him at the altar a seriously bummed out Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Can sweet natured Julia, (Cassie Compton: X Factor) and her best friend Holly lure Robbie out of the dumpster and back into the limelight? Or is he going to see her head off down the aisle with Wall Street bad boy Glenn (Ray Quinn: X Factor, Dancing On Ice)? Only Grandma Rosie (Ruth Madoc: Hi-De-Hi!, Little Britain) seems to be able to see that Robbie and Julia are the couple that are meant to be.
Right from the get go this musical aims to put a smile on your face. Written by Tim Herlihy, who also wrote the film of The Wedding Singer, with Chad Beguelin, the musical features an original score by Matthew Sklar and Tim Herlihy but pleasingly also includes the two songs that Adam Sandler, who played the wedding singer in the film, wrote, “Somebody Kill Me” and “Grow Old With You”.
The show contains some excellent upbeat dance numbers from its ensemble and the songs are all surprisingly catchy, from the opening number, “It's Your Wedding Day” to “All About the Green” and in particular “Single”.
This production may have, what seems to be, the touring show’s staple household names in former X Factor contestants Ray Quinn and Cassie Compton and Hi-De-Hi’s Ruth Madoc but ultimately the star of the show is Jon Robyn’s who more than proves his West End pedigree in the role of Robbie. He is a triple threat treat with his singing, dancing, and acting skills but adds a quadruple threat with some pretty nifty guitar playing and is a delight to watch.
However, that’s not to say that his fellow performers are any less capable and Cassie Compton puts in a lovely performance as Julia, really shining when she gets to show off her vocals with some of the lovely melodies in the score. Ruth Madoc as the mad as a hatter grandmother, Rosie, doesn’t have an awful lot to do to be fair but when she does, by heck you know about it! She certainly played up to the role of the quirky grandma and gave the audience plenty to chuckle about in this bonkers part. Ray Quinn is quite a cool customer in the role of jumped up, Wall Street wise guy, Glen and also shows he’s a pretty good mover in the dance department too.
There are some lovely supporting performances from Ashley Emerson as Sammy, Samuel Holmes as Boy George wannabe, George, Robbie’s friends and fellow band members and also Stephanie Clift as Julia’s friend, Holly. Mark Pearce also stood out with his many featured roles, along with a very slick ensemble cast which one would come to expect having been drilled by director and choreographer, Nick Winston.
If you’re a fan of the film, you won’t be disappointed, as this show - unsurprisingly as it’s written by the same team as the film - has all of the humour of the movie, as well as some nicely played touching moments which will have the romantic members of the audience swooning away. The only thing missing from this production is the fabulous eighties soundtrack which added to the film’s appeal. This can be forgiven though as this production’s score is enough to give a flavour of that era, particularly with “All About the Green’ which has a distinctive feel of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to it and “George’s Prayer” having undertones of Spandau Ballet’s “True”.
The Wedding Singer drew in a good opening night crowd, complete with a few gaggles of hen night ladies in sparkly tops, hoping for a good night out. They wouldn’t have been disappointed. One member of the audience told me, "I love the film of The Wedding Singer. Every time I feel down, I put it on because I know it’ll cheer me up.” This touring musical production will no doubt have the same effect. This 'wedding' guarantees to be a good, fun night out ending with a fabulous, 'feel good', climax - what more do you need to put a smile on your face at the end of the evening?
The Wedding Singer is playing at Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion from 15th to the 19th August with matinees. For tickets go online to www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
Check out our interview with Ruth Madoc here
Ask the Audience
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Ashleigh Benfleet
“I’ve never watched the film or seen the show or know anything about it. I thought it was very energetic throughout. I thought the ensemble was the feature the whole time throughout the show and they were really good. The main characters - their voices were just insane. Ray Quinn’s acting really stood out for me which surprised me in a way. I thought he was a good all-rounder.” |
Ashleigh and Eva
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Eva, Southchurch
“I really liked the music, I thought it was so energetic and upbeat and fun to watch and it’s a real feel good musical. I really liked the dancing, everything about it really - I liked it all!” |