#1
Posted: 4/17/08 at 1:34am
Alright. It's been a while since I saw this show on Broadway. I went through my obsessed phase for about 5 or 6 months back in 2006...
The show opened at Dallas Summer Musicals last night. It's one of the non-equity shows this year... and after "Wonderful Town" last season, I've felt a little jaded toward non-equity shows.
Thank God, Wedding Singer was much more enjoyable than Wonderful Town.
The curtain looks tiny in the theater! There is so much flyspace, but.. what can you do?
The show began, and I was excited because there was a lot of energy on that stage! I could see it! The ensemble looked so much smaller that the Broadway show. The set, of course, was scaled down a lot from the Broadway show. Everything was great except for the dance break with the bride and the groom. They just looked kind of silly at first... not a whole lot of energy from them. Atleast they did the bride flipping over the groom's arm well!
The first thing that really stuck out to me were WIGS. AWFUL! Can we please start a fundraiser to give this show better wigs?? Almost ALL of them looked fake and it bothered me throughout the whole show. I know, it's very snobby of me to says such a thing... but I've seen better wigs in high school shows.
The costumes were fine. Some looked a little cheap (waitresses dresses; Linda's dress was a LITE version of the dress Felicia Finley wore).
For a non-equity tour, it was not that bad! I was pleased with the sets for the most part! Sure, it was pretty scaled back, but they made it work!
On to the performances:
Robbie--He started off alright... not great. He was good. He got through the show, but I definitely miss Stephen Lynch. Stephen's Robbie made decisions on stage that the audience could see, which I missed from this guy. Maybe it's that I was sitting 20 rows back this time and it is in a huge theater. He had a nice voice. He had some funny moments, but he missed a lot of laughs he could have gotten. Not bad though!
Julia--She had a wonderful voice! Very nice to listen to! Even though the wigs in the show were not great, I almost wish she had had one. Her hair just looked kind of flat. In a 3,000 seat theater, she needs something to accentuate her a little more. With almost every other character on stage wearing wigs with BIG hair, it just kind of looked odd. She and Robbie didn't really have a connection ...not that I could see anyway. She played Julia almost a little too naive and childish. She jumped up and down a few times, and I get what she was trying to do... but it looked a little odd. Her "Someday" was good! I wish she would own the stage a little more. I loved the way Laura Benanti just strutted around the stage like the owned the place. This actress seemed to play it a little unsure--and made very quick movements (to get into the picture with the bride and the groom, the cake). I wish she would milk everything a little more!
Holly--I was nervous for Holly. She is my favorite part in the show. Well, this girl can sing!! She lost a few laughs, but overall was wonderful. She gave a solid performance and I hope she goes on to do more shows. She's very talented! Probably had the best stage presence in the show. "Right In Front Of Your Eyes" sounds like it was lowered just a little bit, which is always a little upsetting--but she made me forget it was lowered at all. She sang the song wonderfully! (Amy Spanger has compeeetttiiiition!) Oh, they took out the ladder during "Right In Front Of Your Eyes". Why? It's simple and adds so much more depth to the set and, without it, stage left looks so empty! I'm upset they took it out. It would give Holly a lot more to do on stage and the set would look better. Even without the ladder, this Holly did a great job with the number!
Rose--She has a great voice for the stage!... sadly, she just went through motions. However, her "A Note From Grandma" did get one of the biggest applause of the night!
Linda--Ah! Girl has an AMAZING voice! She has a HUGE voice. The way she played Linda was very different from Felicia's take. She played Linda... stupider (more stupid? eh, it's late. Who cares). It works! She was my friend's favorite in the show. Very talented girl!
The show overall was enjoyable. I'm very nitpicky about a lot of things (as you could tell). I was a little hard on some people, and my opinion is not completely fair. I am definitely biased. Perhaps I just caught certain cast members on an off night.
I'm sorry--I did not like "If I Told You" tonight. The scene was pretty flat. The director really needs to look at that scene and make some notes! There was very little emotion in that scene tonight. Such a beautiful song like that should not just go to waste.
Out of 10 stars, I would give this production 6 1/2 stars.
PS--I just now realized what was missing from the show--"Pop!" Wow, I cannot believe it took me THIS long to realize they took it out. That song is great! Anyone know why they cut it?? I guess it's not crucial to like the story or anything, but it's such a fun number.
The show opened at Dallas Summer Musicals last night. It's one of the non-equity shows this year... and after "Wonderful Town" last season, I've felt a little jaded toward non-equity shows.
Thank God, Wedding Singer was much more enjoyable than Wonderful Town.
The curtain looks tiny in the theater! There is so much flyspace, but.. what can you do?
The show began, and I was excited because there was a lot of energy on that stage! I could see it! The ensemble looked so much smaller that the Broadway show. The set, of course, was scaled down a lot from the Broadway show. Everything was great except for the dance break with the bride and the groom. They just looked kind of silly at first... not a whole lot of energy from them. Atleast they did the bride flipping over the groom's arm well!
The first thing that really stuck out to me were WIGS. AWFUL! Can we please start a fundraiser to give this show better wigs?? Almost ALL of them looked fake and it bothered me throughout the whole show. I know, it's very snobby of me to says such a thing... but I've seen better wigs in high school shows.
The costumes were fine. Some looked a little cheap (waitresses dresses; Linda's dress was a LITE version of the dress Felicia Finley wore).
For a non-equity tour, it was not that bad! I was pleased with the sets for the most part! Sure, it was pretty scaled back, but they made it work!
On to the performances:
Robbie--He started off alright... not great. He was good. He got through the show, but I definitely miss Stephen Lynch. Stephen's Robbie made decisions on stage that the audience could see, which I missed from this guy. Maybe it's that I was sitting 20 rows back this time and it is in a huge theater. He had a nice voice. He had some funny moments, but he missed a lot of laughs he could have gotten. Not bad though!
Julia--She had a wonderful voice! Very nice to listen to! Even though the wigs in the show were not great, I almost wish she had had one. Her hair just looked kind of flat. In a 3,000 seat theater, she needs something to accentuate her a little more. With almost every other character on stage wearing wigs with BIG hair, it just kind of looked odd. She and Robbie didn't really have a connection ...not that I could see anyway. She played Julia almost a little too naive and childish. She jumped up and down a few times, and I get what she was trying to do... but it looked a little odd. Her "Someday" was good! I wish she would own the stage a little more. I loved the way Laura Benanti just strutted around the stage like the owned the place. This actress seemed to play it a little unsure--and made very quick movements (to get into the picture with the bride and the groom, the cake). I wish she would milk everything a little more!
Holly--I was nervous for Holly. She is my favorite part in the show. Well, this girl can sing!! She lost a few laughs, but overall was wonderful. She gave a solid performance and I hope she goes on to do more shows. She's very talented! Probably had the best stage presence in the show. "Right In Front Of Your Eyes" sounds like it was lowered just a little bit, which is always a little upsetting--but she made me forget it was lowered at all. She sang the song wonderfully! (Amy Spanger has compeeetttiiiition!) Oh, they took out the ladder during "Right In Front Of Your Eyes". Why? It's simple and adds so much more depth to the set and, without it, stage left looks so empty! I'm upset they took it out. It would give Holly a lot more to do on stage and the set would look better. Even without the ladder, this Holly did a great job with the number!
Rose--She has a great voice for the stage!... sadly, she just went through motions. However, her "A Note From Grandma" did get one of the biggest applause of the night!
Linda--Ah! Girl has an AMAZING voice! She has a HUGE voice. The way she played Linda was very different from Felicia's take. She played Linda... stupider (more stupid? eh, it's late. Who cares). It works! She was my friend's favorite in the show. Very talented girl!
The show overall was enjoyable. I'm very nitpicky about a lot of things (as you could tell). I was a little hard on some people, and my opinion is not completely fair. I am definitely biased. Perhaps I just caught certain cast members on an off night.
I'm sorry--I did not like "If I Told You" tonight. The scene was pretty flat. The director really needs to look at that scene and make some notes! There was very little emotion in that scene tonight. Such a beautiful song like that should not just go to waste.
Out of 10 stars, I would give this production 6 1/2 stars.
PS--I just now realized what was missing from the show--"Pop!" Wow, I cannot believe it took me THIS long to realize they took it out. That song is great! Anyone know why they cut it?? I guess it's not crucial to like the story or anything, but it's such a fun number.
"If it walks like a Parks, if it wobbles like a Parks, then it's definitely fat and nobody loves it." --MA
Updated On: 4/17/08 at 01:34 AM
It makes you forget the world and go back to the 80s and believe in love again... if you let it. 
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