Fall in Love with The Wedding Singer

The Wedding Singer is a musical comedy about well, a wedding singer, playing at the PSU Silver Center. Robbie Hart (Alex Hunton) is the title character, who gets dumped by his fiancée at the altar. As Robbie sings his way through the depressing aftermath of his breakup, he may discover that the love of his life is closer than he realizes. Based on the Adam Sandler film of the same name, The Wedding Singer entertains while simultaneously allowing audiences to sympathize with the characters’ dreams of living happily ever after.

Taking place in 1985 New Jersey, audiences can expect a lot of big hairdos and a wonderful score that pays homage to 1980’s pop. The music is by Matthew Sklar with lyrics by Chad Beguelin. Adapting the film to include musical numbers seems like a daunting task, but the songs seamlessly blend into the tone of the musical. The characters are all relatable and amusing, and the audience can understand the emotional rollercoaster that is falling out of love, falling right back in, and all the comedic events that happen in between.

Fans of the movie may worry about the transition from the big screen to the stage, but not to worry. Director John R. Briggs, who has directed professionally for 40 years and directed five shows at Plymouth State University, said, “I’m just looking forward to everyone having a grand time, cast and audience alike. This is a very high-energy show, very fast paced. I think lots of people know the story from the movie, so they’ll be seeing how closely it stays with the movie, and it stays extremely close to the script.”

“High energy” and “fast paced” are accurate words to describe the show. With a big cast of 28 members, performers are tasked with acting, singing, and dancing. Rehearsals were held Monday through Friday every night from six to ten, in addition to the demanding 12 hour technical rehearsals. It seems like this would make anyone the opposite of energetic. Nevertheless, the cast remains excited to perform their five shows. “My favorite part so far is watching it all come together; knowing where we started, and seeing where we are now in such a short amount of time. Seeing how the crowd reacts to the jokes and music, it’s going to be great to have an actual big audience,” said Hunton.

The Wedding Singer is playing Oct. 15 and 16 at 7 p.m., Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. in the Hanaway Theatre in Plymouth State’s Silver Center for the Arts. Call (603)-535-2787 or visit www.plymouth.edu/silver-center for tickets.

COURTESY PHOTO/WIKIPEDIA.COM