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THE WEDDING SINGER
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Musical Fluff With an ’80s Vibe
By AILEEN JACOBSON
Published: September 26, 2008
With its brash attitude and celebratory certitude, “All About the Green,” an ode-to-Wall-Street number, seems more a throwback these days than any of the 1980s fashions, music or hairstyles that are mildly spoofed in “The Wedding Singer.”
The musical, based on the 1998 movie and set in Ridgefield, N.J., in 1985, is enjoying an exuberant revival at Gateway Playhouse. Given the national financial upheaval of the past few weeks, the timing adds a patina of irony to this lens on the era that spawned Gordon Gekko of the 1987 film “Wall Street,” and his “greed is good” credo. One of the actors, Michael Minarik, with slicked-down hair and oily movements, looks like a Gekko-in-training as he expertly leads the cast in the song.
The point of this musical, though, is that following your heart is better than following the green. As in the 1998 film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, the story is about a hapless wedding singer named Robbie Hart and an equally hapless waitress named Julia Sullivan who are meant for each other but at the time they meet — literally bumping into each other at a wedding — are engaged to the wrong people. In Robbie’s case, it’s a woman named Linda, who stands him up at the altar. With Julia, it’s Glen Guglia, the financial-whiz bad guy played so engagingly by Mr. Minarik.
When this musical, with a book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy (who also wrote the movie), debuted on Broadway in 2006, it received mostly lukewarm reviews. With its caramel soul and throwaway songs (music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Mr. Beguelin), it may be better suited to Gateway’s summer-stock ambience than to Broadway. Keith Andrews, the director and choreographer, keeps the pacing bouncy as he smoothly incorporates the musical’s visual jokes, including the zombie movements of “Thriller” and the defining water-bucket moment of “Flashdance.”
The goofiness of a bar mitzvah scene in which a band member who resembles Boy George (Brian Golub) sings in Hebrew plays just right here, as does a Las Vegas scene in which a crowd of celebrity impersonators helps Robbie find his true love. Robin Joy Allan, Gateway’s artistic and casting director, has done an outstanding job in coming up with actors who, after doing fine work in other roles, amusingly portray fake versions of Tina Turner, Billy Idol and Imelda Marcos, among others.
The careful casting extends to major roles. Greg LoBuono, playing the stymied rock star Robbie, conveys a sweet-loser vibe even as he delivers the musical’s hard-to-get-out-of-your-head anthem, “It’s Your Wedding Day,” with robust conviction. Noel Molinelli, with her charming crooked smile, is a Julia you can root for. Their voices blend nicely even in “Come Out of the Dumpster,” one of several quirky songs.
Aglow with apple-cheeked cheeriness, Tina Johnson’s portrayal of Robbie’s grandmother contrasts humorously with the raunchy dialogue and lyrics sometimes assigned to her. John Rochette masters the vacuous look of the band’s guitarist, Sammy, and Antoinette Dipietropolo emits energy to spare as Julia’s fellow waitress Holly. The electricity that flows throughout the production gives this pleasing retro fluff its buoyancy.
“The Wedding Singer,” Gateway Playhouse, 215 South Country Road, Bellport, through Oct. 4. Information: (888) 484-9669 or www.gatewayplayhouse.com.
Review: 'The Wedding Singer' at Gateway Playhouse
You want to go back to simpler, more solvent times? If it's the '80s that come to mind, well, fuggedaboutit. Adam Sandler's 1998 film "The Wedding Singer" painted the 1980s as a dopey, freewheeling and free-spending decade reflected in vapid lyrics and flashy pop stars. The 2006 Broadway musical, which closed on New Year's Eve of the same year after 285 performances, was, perhaps, ahead of its retro time.
As directed by Keith Andrews, Gateway Playhouse's Long Island premiere of "The Wedding Singer" takes us - in a twist on a hit movie title of the era - back to the present. The bad guy in this romantic mini-epic is a Wall Street trader who deals not in "junk bonds," he says, but "high-tech debt instruments." Meanwhile, our hero flies first class to Vegas on a borrowed credit card issued to a barely employed rock-star wannabe. It's a subprime world with banks raking it in on the purchasing decisions of airheads.
Surely that was not the intent of creators of either the movie or the musical "Wedding Singer." But thanks to the show's dim view of Wall Street traders, the timing of Gateway's revival lends this pop-tart whimsy a glancing gravitas it never expected, much less intended.
The title character, Robbie, played like a doofus with heart by Greg LoBuono, sublimates his lead-singer ambitions by leading a band that plays weddings.
The next gig is his own.
But Robbie is stood up at the altar by Linda (wickedly trashy as played by Jacqueline Colmer). Offering condolences are bandmates, strummed by John Rochette and Brian Golub, disciples of Van Halen and Boy George, respectively, as well as the girl-next-door waitress Julia (Noel Molinelli), her slutty cousin (played by Antoinette Dipietropolo) and Robbie's let-it-all-hang-out granny (Tina Johnson).
Most so-called witticisms are winks at the '80s. But we're pretty sure the Wall Street slickster (Michael Minarik) engaged to Julia will fall after he predicts that Starbucks is a loser. ("No one's gonna pay three bucks for a cup of coffee.")
From that point, if not before, we know how this love story is going to turn out. But the '80s impersonators along the way, and a rocking band led by Andrew Austin, put us in a good mood. Sorta like the free drinks and party vibe at a wedding that's not ours.
WHAT Long Island premiere of "The Wedding Singer," by Tim Herlihy, Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar
WHEN | WHERE Through Oct. 4 at Gateway Playhouse, 215 South Country Rd., Bellport
INFO $39-$45, 631-286-1133, gatewayplay house.com
Gateway’s final performance of the season offers laughs and nostalgia
Crimp and tease your hair, put on
your Converse hi-tops, and your Billy
Idol T-shirt ‘cause the ’80s have
returned to Bellport! The Gateway
Playhouse’s final play of the summer
season, The Wedding Singer, pays
tribute to the music and styles (yes,
even Aqua Net) of the 1980s. Based on
the 1999 movie starring Adam Sandler,
The Wedding Singer delivers wit,
style, and laughs.
The musical opens with “It’s Your
Wedding Day”, an energetic number
that introduces Robbie Hart and his
band while they are at a wedding in
New Jersey in 1985. We are then introduced
to Julia and her wild cousin Holly,
who work as waitresses at the
catering hall. Julia and Robbie meet
and begin their friendship, but both
are involved with other people. After
Robbie is left at the altar by his
promiscuous fiancée Linda, and Julia
gets engaged to her boyfriend, Glen,
feelings develop between the two and
progress throughout the musical.
Although Robbie is well on his way to
getting over Linda, she comes back in
the picture! Will Robbie end up with
Linda, or will he end up with Julia?
Watch the musical and find out.
The cast is filled with many talented
actors. Cincinnati native Greg
LoBuono plays Robbie Hart, the Van
Halen-obsessed wedding singer, to a T.
LoBuono has starred in many national
tours, including Grease and Starlight
Express, as well as Gateway productions.
Noel Molinelli, who plays Julia,
has been a Gateway regular and played
Sissy in Urban Cowboy last season.
The James Madison grad was also in
School of Rock and was in a ShopRite
commercial. Her portrayal of sweet,
realistic Julia Sullivan surpasses Drew
Barrymore’s film performance.
Highlights of the show include a
moment in “Saturday Night in the City”,
where Antoinette Dipietropolo’s Holly
sits on a chair and pulls a chain, and
water gushes over her, a la Flashdance.
Another highlight is “Move that Thang”,
where Robbie’s grandmother Rose
(played by Tina Johnson) and Boy
George look-alike band mate George
(played by Brian Golub) rap together at
Rose’s 50th anniversary party. References
to the 1980s are frequent and
hilarious, from the synthesizer and electric
guitar-heavy score, to the costumes,
to the references to Reaganomics, The
A-Team, and shopping mall kitsch.
These references definitely add to the
charm and atmosphere of the show and
make it all the more enjoyable.
All in all, The Wedding Singer should
not be missed. It’s quirky, funny, and
performed by an energetic cast—perfect
for a first date or a fifteenth date.
The Wedding Singer runs at the
Gateway Playhouse until Oct. 4. Tickets
can be ordered by calling 1-888-
4TIXNOW, or visiting www.gatewayplayhouse.
com.
