The Wedding Singer review 5/6/06 Evening

Last night, I saw "The Wedding Singer" for the 2nd time. Originally tried the Avenue Q lotto...the guy accused me of putting my name in two times...he said "Didn't you put your name in already?" & I said "My friend just did 10 minutes ago...I don't enter right after him so the names can get mixed up. You can check the bucket for my name 2 times"...I later realized giving him an attitude wouldn't increase my chances of winning. Next I was going to try The Drowsy Chaperone lotto but they picked it at 7:00 and if we lost, it'd be crazy with getting tickets to a show. So we got rush tickets to The Wedding Singer, row F 6 & 8, at 6:30. Got to the show around 7:30 and Laura Benanti (Julia) was absent. I was really upset because it was a Saturday night and it just opened but they said after at the stage door that she was really sick. Tina Maddigan went on as Julia and I thought she was amazing! It was her first time going on as Julia they said and I was really impressed. The show I feel is amazing. The dancing, the costumes, the acting! Everything! Stephen Lynch was great as Robbie. Felicia Finley really is the highlight of the show for me. Although she's only in 2 scenes, she really just took over the show! At the stage door after, everybody came out. Stephen said "Well you guys picked a good night to come!" When Tina came out, there was afew cheers and she was really happy. She was like "I was SO nervous!!" & everybody congratulated her. Great night!

Is Benanti already missing performances? She has a bad rep for missing a lot of shows, doesn't she? I saw NINE twice and missed her both times.

TT

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It's nice to hear that Tina was good. So if Laura's out, people won't be disappointed. That makes me happy.

For the record, Laura has a "habit" of missing performances because in Into the woods she nearly broke her back and then when in Nine had to get surgey because the problem was still aggrevating her. She was nearly paralyzed.
How dare she miss performances!

The problem with Wedding Singer, as I detalied in my review of yesterday's matinee, is that the two leads (Lynch and Benanti) are like deer caught in the headlights - neither of them are dynamic enough to carry the show.

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore undeniably had a lot of chemistry, which Lynch and Benanti are lacking.

kidmanboy, thank you. Laura is pretty much a rock and only misses performances if she HAS to.

I consider her sister in a car accident a pretty damn good reason to miss a show.

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I sent her some texts asking her to get back to me when she has a chance. I'm sure I'll hear from her by tonight letting me know how things are.

Anyone see if she's on today or not?

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the entire cast is great, i recommend everyone to go see the show and wait for the cast, they are a delight.

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I find Drew Barrymore not a great actress, she is always playing herself, but anyways...Tina was great, but Laura was great too!

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Curtain, still bashing WS?

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She missed a lot due to a very serious back injury on which she had surgery. 'Cinderella' was her role and no one could touch her when it came to it. She graced that stage better than anyone else could have. I highly doubt she WANTED to miss those performances.

Although, Curtain, maybe she's a masochist who far more enjoys having surgery and terrible back pain than she does performing on Broadway.

Oh, how dare she miss a performance.

You've got to be kidding me. The woman's incredible.

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Well, at least her sister is okay. That's the important part.

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Updated On: 5/7/06 at 06:00 PM