Jonathan Wilkes and Natalie Casey in the 80s masterpiece The Wedding Singer.
The relationship between stage, book and film is both fluid and fraught: we
have Wuthering Heights' - the ballet (The Good), The Rocky Horror Show (The
Mad) and the musical Lord of the Rings (The Ugly).
Best keep an open mind, then, as a cult 80s film takes to the stage.
Fortunately, the cast do not try to copy the original but stamp their own
personality on the story from the explosive opening to the feelgood finale.
Jonathan Wilkes, likeable as Robbie Hart, lead singer with the band Simply
Wed, is jilted by his vampiric fiancée Linda.
A waitress on the wedding circuit, Julia, played with great warmth by
Natalie Casey, takes him under her wing and a network of love stories ensues
amongst the mullets and puffball skirts.
The other band members, Boy George clone (Nick Hayes) and Sammy, a guitarist
with the sensitivity and diplomacy of Zaphod Beeblebrox (Simon Lipkin),
provide much of the 80s pop culture humour.
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The Wedding Singer, Bristol Hippodrome
March 31 - Apr. 5
The score has many echoes of contemporary classics and the whole cast sing
their legwarmers off. The choreography, by director Karen Bruce, is chock
full of energy. The strongest vocalist is Holly (Jodie Jacobs) with a
powerhouse performance.
The obvious parallel is Hairspray, the 60s teen comedy about segregation,
making the transition from celluloid to stage a huge success.
However, this show is simply a love story and though laden with more ham,
cheese and bubbly than any wedding breakfast, the audience would forgive
this show anything. Come on, let's party like it's 1985.
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