#1
Posted: 6/9/06 at 3:57pm
Very interesting article, which I kind of agree with. Personally, I think "Drowsy" should win Best Musical and John Lloyd Young should take Best Actor, but "Wedding Singer" happens to have a very good score and some great choreography.
"'The Wedding Singer' is my favorite musical of the season," wrote our Envelope Tonys guru Martin Denton in his original NYTheatre.com review of the Broadway tuner nominated for five Tony Awards, including best musical and lead actor (Stephen Lynch). "It's a feel-good, crowd-pleasing hit. Sweet-natured, silly, romantic, and tuneful, it's the kind of show that takes you away from your everyday for a couple of hours and makes you grin and grin — and the grin stays with you after the curtain comes down. It's also deceptively skillful, featuring expert staging and production design and a top-notch cast."
"That's a real winner!" my cousin's husband roared last week just moments after a hoard of family members watched "The Wedding Singer" with me at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The others gushed about the show, too — all buoyed and obviously still spellbound by the slick entertainment we'd just seen. But it was the use of the word "winner" that made me think of the show's chances at the Tonys, making me a bit sad because "The Wedding Singer" is not expected to take top prizes.
That doesn't seem to bother Stephen Lynch, though. Yesterday he told me, "I'm going to the Tonys to have a great time! I don't expect to win. I'm just looking forward to performing our show's opening number, 'It's Your Wedding Day,' not just in front of 1,500 people this time, but 5,000 at Radio City Music Hall!"
Actually, his audience will be much, much larger than that, considering the 6 million viewers who'll be tuned in to the CBS Tonycast, but I didn't dare remind him of that, didn't want to give him the jitters (which he doesn't get anyway, I found out later) while he was lost in the joy of sharing the excitement of his show with more people than usual.
"'It's Your Wedding Day' is one of the most infectious tunes in the show," he added. "After you hear it, you can't get it out of your head, so maybe the song will stick with people after they hear it and that will bring them in to see the show."
Lynch has that classic, selfless spirit of a true Broadway trouper — gung ho! sally forth! — despite whatever plot complication may lay ahead, which is what makes him so winningly appealing in the show's lead role. Perhaps he acquired that attitude while spending years touring America's comedy-club circuit as a stand-up and singer/songwriter. But he wasn't a professional actor prior to getting "The Wedding Singer" gig, nor a dancer. That career switch suddenly occurred when he got the role, apparently by acclamation.
"I don't know if it's true, but the producers tell me that they didn't bother auditioning anyone else after they saw me," he says. "Whatever the case, I'm pretty lucky. The only acting I did before this was back when I was in school."
Now Lynch must not only act and sing, but boogey, jump, dance on a desktop and get dropped into a trash dumpster. "It took a while to get the dumpster bit just right," he confesses. "I could've gotten hurt, but luckily I didn't. Now the guys know exactly which leg to hold and how to toss me in."
It's tuneful songs like "Come Out of the Dumpster" and the uplifting "If I Told You" that give "The Wedding Singer" its heart, soul and charm. "'If I Told You' is a classic romantic ballad," Lynch said. "It may be a little old fashioned, but that's OK because it's timeless, the kind of love song you'd hear on Broadway years ago and never forget."
Recently, Tony voters have gotten rather snooty when picking best musical ("Contact," "Passion"), but years ago unabashed romantic shows like "The Pajama Game" often got their rightful due. Occasionally, they win the top Tony these days, too, but 1992 champ "Crazy for You" had snob appeal because it was really a retooling of George Gershwin's "Girl Crazy" and 2002 winner "Thoroughly Modern Millie" was an adaptation of a classic film. "The Wedding Singer" is an adaptation of a popular film, which earned $123 million worldwide in 1998, yes, but won no Oscars, probably because it starred someone of little snob appeal to academy voters despite his huge appeal to moviegoers: Adam Sandler.
No doubt that hurts "The Wedding Singer's" Tony chances, too, but, in a fair world, that shouldn't curse the kudos luck of Sandler's theatrical replacement as Robbie. Lynch displays the same charm, brio, bounce and sometimes even acting chops as past Tony winners Jerry Orbach in "Promises, Promises," Robert Lindsay in "Me and My Girl" and Boyd Gaines in "She Loves Me." Cheering audiences at "The Wedding Singer" can tell you that he deserves better Tony odds than we experts are giving him.
However, regardless of how "The Wedding Singer" plays at the Tonys this Sunday, Lynch and showmates will probably get their just reward. From the looks of things, they have a hit on their hands at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Oh, yeah, and Lynch gets to climb out of the dumpster every night and, eventually, before the curtain drops, gets to wrap his arms around his elusive lover Julia (Laura Benanti) and sing a happy reprise of "It's Your Wedding Day."
Goldderby (LA Times Arts Section)
"'The Wedding Singer' is my favorite musical of the season," wrote our Envelope Tonys guru Martin Denton in his original NYTheatre.com review of the Broadway tuner nominated for five Tony Awards, including best musical and lead actor (Stephen Lynch). "It's a feel-good, crowd-pleasing hit. Sweet-natured, silly, romantic, and tuneful, it's the kind of show that takes you away from your everyday for a couple of hours and makes you grin and grin — and the grin stays with you after the curtain comes down. It's also deceptively skillful, featuring expert staging and production design and a top-notch cast."
"That's a real winner!" my cousin's husband roared last week just moments after a hoard of family members watched "The Wedding Singer" with me at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The others gushed about the show, too — all buoyed and obviously still spellbound by the slick entertainment we'd just seen. But it was the use of the word "winner" that made me think of the show's chances at the Tonys, making me a bit sad because "The Wedding Singer" is not expected to take top prizes.
That doesn't seem to bother Stephen Lynch, though. Yesterday he told me, "I'm going to the Tonys to have a great time! I don't expect to win. I'm just looking forward to performing our show's opening number, 'It's Your Wedding Day,' not just in front of 1,500 people this time, but 5,000 at Radio City Music Hall!"
Actually, his audience will be much, much larger than that, considering the 6 million viewers who'll be tuned in to the CBS Tonycast, but I didn't dare remind him of that, didn't want to give him the jitters (which he doesn't get anyway, I found out later) while he was lost in the joy of sharing the excitement of his show with more people than usual.
"'It's Your Wedding Day' is one of the most infectious tunes in the show," he added. "After you hear it, you can't get it out of your head, so maybe the song will stick with people after they hear it and that will bring them in to see the show."
Lynch has that classic, selfless spirit of a true Broadway trouper — gung ho! sally forth! — despite whatever plot complication may lay ahead, which is what makes him so winningly appealing in the show's lead role. Perhaps he acquired that attitude while spending years touring America's comedy-club circuit as a stand-up and singer/songwriter. But he wasn't a professional actor prior to getting "The Wedding Singer" gig, nor a dancer. That career switch suddenly occurred when he got the role, apparently by acclamation.
"I don't know if it's true, but the producers tell me that they didn't bother auditioning anyone else after they saw me," he says. "Whatever the case, I'm pretty lucky. The only acting I did before this was back when I was in school."
Now Lynch must not only act and sing, but boogey, jump, dance on a desktop and get dropped into a trash dumpster. "It took a while to get the dumpster bit just right," he confesses. "I could've gotten hurt, but luckily I didn't. Now the guys know exactly which leg to hold and how to toss me in."
It's tuneful songs like "Come Out of the Dumpster" and the uplifting "If I Told You" that give "The Wedding Singer" its heart, soul and charm. "'If I Told You' is a classic romantic ballad," Lynch said. "It may be a little old fashioned, but that's OK because it's timeless, the kind of love song you'd hear on Broadway years ago and never forget."
Recently, Tony voters have gotten rather snooty when picking best musical ("Contact," "Passion"), but years ago unabashed romantic shows like "The Pajama Game" often got their rightful due. Occasionally, they win the top Tony these days, too, but 1992 champ "Crazy for You" had snob appeal because it was really a retooling of George Gershwin's "Girl Crazy" and 2002 winner "Thoroughly Modern Millie" was an adaptation of a classic film. "The Wedding Singer" is an adaptation of a popular film, which earned $123 million worldwide in 1998, yes, but won no Oscars, probably because it starred someone of little snob appeal to academy voters despite his huge appeal to moviegoers: Adam Sandler.
No doubt that hurts "The Wedding Singer's" Tony chances, too, but, in a fair world, that shouldn't curse the kudos luck of Sandler's theatrical replacement as Robbie. Lynch displays the same charm, brio, bounce and sometimes even acting chops as past Tony winners Jerry Orbach in "Promises, Promises," Robert Lindsay in "Me and My Girl" and Boyd Gaines in "She Loves Me." Cheering audiences at "The Wedding Singer" can tell you that he deserves better Tony odds than we experts are giving him.
However, regardless of how "The Wedding Singer" plays at the Tonys this Sunday, Lynch and showmates will probably get their just reward. From the looks of things, they have a hit on their hands at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Oh, yeah, and Lynch gets to climb out of the dumpster every night and, eventually, before the curtain drops, gets to wrap his arms around his elusive lover Julia (Laura Benanti) and sing a happy reprise of "It's Your Wedding Day."
Goldderby (LA Times Arts Section)
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