STOP me if you’ve heard this one before: Billy Idol, Cher, Cyndi Lauper and Ronald Reagan go into a chapel …
No, it’s not the start of a bawdy joke but a rather surreal scene from the Swan Hill Theatre Group’s latest outing, The Wedding Singer.
For those hazy about the details of the iconic film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, it concerns Robbie Hart, an itinerant musician whose big break never came sliding into obscurity as the singer of a wedding band, and his girlfriend Linda, a flighty groupie disillusioned with Robbie’s career.
Opposite these are naive waitress Julia Sullivan, who works with the same contractors that provide the band, thus seeing a lot of them, and her older, nearly-fiance Glen Guglia, avaricious and faithless.
Robbie and Julia become close and the uncomfortable love trapezium becomes a more traditional love triangle, when Linda jilts Robbie at the altar.
What follows is a tragi-comic trail of miscommunication and misplaced emotion that makes two and a half hours just fly by.
The two leads are phenomenal: James Hinton, as Robbie, chews up the scenery with his athletic and charismatic performance and vocal pyrotechnics. His voice is well-modulated and he imbues his lines with just the right amount of self-deprecating humour.
Ashleigh Smith, as Julia, is a treat to watch. Great vocals and real stage presence, and her interactions with other characters show flawless timing.
The script is pretty tight with plenty of smiles and some actual laugh-out-loud moments, and flows with a steady pacing.
It seems a bit rude to highlight individuals in what is, after all, an ensemble cast, but two other characters deserve a special nod.
Kellie Leann Knight as the brash, broad bridesmaid from Brooklyn, Holly, belts out her lines and tunes with a genuine sense of fun and swagger, while Nikki Arnott as Rosie steals her scenes with effortless grace and saucy humour.
The ensemble cast all interact with purpose and skill and most seem to be natural singers. The terpsichorean muse was not as kind, however, and some of the cast seemed to be visibly concentrating on their dance moves.
It’s a small flaw in an otherwise thoroughly entertaining piece of musical theatre.
The costumes were wonderfully evocative of the mid-1980s, and numerous. The nightclub scenes bring the conspicuous consumerism of that era to life and Sam Boys as Glen Guglia gives off that Gordon Gekko “greed is good” vibe from Wall Street.
The music is mostly original but conforms to the trademark poppy shallowness of most of 80s love songs, while still being infectious, and that is in no small part due to the “house band”. Kudos.
The direction is crisp and unobtrusive – scene changes are handled quickly and go largely unnoticed – and the production seems very professional. Scenery is simple but effective.
If the show is still running when you see this, then that’s what you should be doing – to book a seat!You won’t be disappointed.
A note on content: It’s not G-rated but PG would probably cover it. Use your discretion if you are a guardian.
– The view from row E
