The Wedding Singer

It is the decade of big hair, luminous jumpsuits, Mr T and Margaret Thatcher, all of which make an appearance in this musical comedy about a wedding singer whose greatest dream is to be married himself.

This production attempts to emulate the 1998 hit film of the same name with a combination of dialogue from the movie and new music by Matthew Sklar. The film is so well-known that any attempt to imitate it so completely was always going to seem strange.

One of its charms was that the audience could recognise and laugh at a range of 80s cultural references, many of which were to do with the music. Getting rid of these and replacing them with a mediocre new score robs the show of any nostalgic appeal.

Jonathan Wilkes manages to make the character of Robbie his own, and does an admirable job of portraying the simple, hopeless romantic. Problems arise, however, when whole scenes are shoehorned in from the film and suddenly, instead of acting the part, he rather awkwardly acts the part of Adam Sandler acting the part. This disjointedness means that his relationship with Julia (Natalie Casey) never has the chance to develop, so when he finally proposes, it seems they should perhaps start by getting to know each other.

The slapstick, in-your-face humour of the big screen version does not translate well to the stage either. The portrayal of a bar mitzvah comes across as disrespectful and George (Nick Hayes) putting on a hammed-up Jewish accent is excruciating. Throughout the show, female cast members are gratuitously over-sexualised, with some uncomfortable writhing and buttock-groping.

Despite the show’s difficulties, Jodie Jacobs’s (Holly) powerful voice shines in songs like Right in Front of Your Eyes, and Simon Lipkin is funny and convincing in his role as her sweet but stupid boyfriend, Sammy.

There are a few giggles throughout, but by far the biggest laugh comes when Robbie finds himself on a plane surrounded by an impressionists’ convention. Billy Idol, Mr T, Ronald Reagan, and Maggie Thatcher are all there, but Keisha Atwell’s Tina Turner is particularly well-observed.