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| Emily Ridge (Julia Sullivan) and Dave Smith (Robbie Hart) in "The Wedding Singer" |
Music by Matthew Sklar - Book and Lyrics by Tim Herlihy and Chad Beguelin
Directed by Amy Dunham and Sarah Hull - Musical Direction by Jenna HintonChoreography by Emma Nicholls - Costumes by Laura Jurkiewicz
Set design by Stenita - Presented by Queanbeyan Players Inc.
The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre 22nd
June to 1st July, 2018
Reviewed by Bill Stephens.
What’s not to like in a musical in which a fake Billy
Idol (Joe McGrail-Bateup) and Cyndi Lauper (Kathryn Jones) reveal the pathway to true love to mullet-coifed wedding
singer, Robbie Hart (Dave Smith) and winsome waitress Julia Sullivan ( Emily
Ridge). Robbie has formed a band with
his best mates, likeable lout, Sammy (Tim Stiles) and Boy George clone, George
(David Santolin). They specialise in wedding gigs.
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| Michael Jordan (Glen Guglia) - Emily Ridge (Julia Sullivan) - Josie Dunham (Holly) - Dave Smith (Robbie Hart) -David Santolin (George) in "The Wedding Singer" |
When Robbie’s horrendous fiancée , Linda (Emma White) unceremoniously
dumps him at his own wedding, his life decends into a downward spiral from
which not even his sex-absorbed grandmother, Rosie (Lauren Nihill) can distract
him.
With the help of an energectic, likeable cast, a hot band, and an endless
parade of truly atrocious eighties costumes, directors, Amy Dunham and Sarah
Hull, have transformed this unlikely scenario into a disarmingly silly and
enjoyable entertainment.
It helps that the score is riddled with catchy songs,
even though Robbie’s forte is writing ditties that are so bad they’re good and Emma
Nicholls has devised a series of clever dance routines to differentiate the various
wedding receptions featured in the plot.
Dunham and Hull have provided the large cast
with endless opportunities to create a
lexicon of outrageous wedding guests, and they grasp those opportunities with
infectious gusto.
Polished performances from Dave Smith, Emily Ridge, Tim
Stiles, David Santolin, along with Josie
Dunham, as Julie’s air-head friend Holly, and Michael Jordan as her
philandering fiancée, Glen Guglia,
anchor the show. Among the large ensemble, eye-catching cameos from
Mitchell France, Shennia Spillane, Bill Lord, Emma Nikolic, Kym Starr, and Kara Sellers among the large ensemble, add to the fun.
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| Tim Stiles (Sammy) - Dave Smith (Robbie Hart) - David Santolin (George) and members of the ensemble of "The Wedding Singer" |
Queanbeyan Players have come up with a winner with
this delightful concoction but if you want to see it you’ll have to be quick.
The season only runs until next Saturday July 1st.
Photos by Moore Photography
