"The Wedding Singer" Reviews- Page 2

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:23pm

It'd be a shame if Spanger got ignored for her amazing performance just because the show she's in is crappy.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:24pm

It happens all the time, don't even get me started. One need only to look at my avatar.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:35pm

Yeah, don't bring that subject up with Rachel York either!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:53pm

The AP is Mixed:

"The 1980s: Wall Street greed; the mullet; Boy George and Culture Club; Mr. T on TV; and a little moonwalking on the dance floor.

All are a part of "The Wedding Singer," the aggressively eager new musical comedy that attempts to do for New Jersey in the '80s, what "Hairspray" did for Baltimore in the 1960s.

Brought to Broadway by the same producing team that gave us "Hairspray," the show, which opened Thursday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, is, unfortunately, more relentless than inspired.

All the ingredients, particularly a promising score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, seem to be in place. So why doesn't "The Wedding Singer" deliver a bigger kick, transporting us to that electric if rarified world of musical-theater bliss?

For one thing, the musical seems to be over-enamored of its own concept — obsessively referencing the decade in which it is set when time might better be spent fleshing out the people on stage. If you don't know "Joanie Loves Chiachi" or the jellybean connection to Ronald Reagan, for example, you may feel a little left out of the party.
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More interesting in "The Wedding Singer" are its supporting players, particularly the show's two women of loose morals. Let's face it. Bad girls have more fun — and so does the audience when these ladies are played by the likes of Amy Spanger, a would-be Madonna (only with a sense of humor), and Felicia Finley, as Robbie's crude ex-fiancee.
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Scott Pask's settings are often witty, most tellingly a revolving rooftop restaurant with views of a water tower in beautiful downtown Newark. And Gregory Gale's costumes capture the awfulness of what passed for the height of fashion 25 years ago.

For a simple boy-meets-girl story, "The Wedding Singer" has a convoluted plot, and, it takes Robbie and that waitress a full two acts to finally connect. By then, your affection for the '80s may be exhausted.




http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193492,00.html

Updated On: 4/27/06 at 07:53 PM

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 7:54pm

I think they will definitely get a choreography nod.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:03pm

What a shame re the reviews

The show was pleasant & entertaining. It had no intention of trying to be anything great but all it wanted to do was entrtain. It did that

Some critics need to take their thunmb out of their ass & stop being so high & mighty. I loved the Gordon Gekko peon to Greed number

[thespian geek]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:14pm

This is just my opinion, but I think the problem regarding the critics is their all older. I think this show was mainly targeted to those born in the late 70s/early to mid-80s since we kind of lived through this time period and remember a lot of the stuff they're referencing, but it's not being force-fed down our throats..

Haha. But anyway, do you get what I'm saying or should I just shut up? I'm not entirely sure I'm making sense.

[evil_twin2327]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:16pm

thespian, i agree. Plus, I think the critics rarely praise a "fun" musical. I really hope the reviews don't hurt the run. If it can get through the next month or so, I think it will be a big tourist draw this summer. It's fun and recognizable- two things which usually draw in the tourists.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:20pm

Regretfully, it may suffer the same fate as another "fun" show - All Shook Up

It may be gone before years end & that is a shame. Glad we saw it

[Barnaby12345]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:23pm

I just bought tickets for August, I hope it lasts that long! If it for some reason closes before then, would I get refunded? I REALLY REALLY want to see this show so I hope it does well!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:28pm

Well, I'd hardly call The Producers, Hairspray, Pajama Game, Spelling Bee, Avenue Q, Jersey Boys et al, deep or serious musicals. Those are all "fun" shows that received across the board raves from the critics because they were well-put together and quite accomplished in each major element (and remember that most of the "serious" shows from LaChiusa and others got mixed to negative reviews).

These reviews so far are not criticizing it for being "fun," they're simply pointing out that this is a very flawed show. If you choose to overlook those flaws and have a good time, great. But, it's not a critic's job to ignore shortcomings in the book, score, some of the casting and other aspects of this musical and just say "It's fun!" and leave it at that. That's for people on chat boards to do.

Updated On: 4/27/06 at 08:28 PM

[FosterChild]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:39pm

Thespian, your comments don't hold up, in regards to the bad notices so far. I know for a fact that Matthew Murray (Talkin' Bway) and Rob Kendt (Broadway.com) are both in their 30s. I don't think Frank Scheck of the Hollywood Reporter is too far past that either. How old SHOULD the critics be? 16? 17? 22?

Oh, and those born in the early 80s didn't exactly LIVE through this time period. In what? Kindergarten? By your logic, they would have to be born in the late 60s or 70s and coming of age in the 80s. In other words, the men above should have loved it, no?
Updated On: 4/27/06 at 08:39 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:47pm

Exactly. I'm about the same age as Kendt and Murray, so I was in my teens and early 20s during the 80s, and lived through all of those terrible dances and fashions and remember going to clubs playing all of that music. And I didn't care for this show. Go figure. Maybe people who are teenagers now can get all nostalgic about the 80s -- a time they weren't alive for (probably from all those endless VH1 I Love the 80s tributes), but most of us who were there, don't want to go back.

Updated On: 4/27/06 at 08:47 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:50pm

Well, actually I would think the target audiences, Thesbian, would be people who were in their teens/early 20s in the 1980s - i.e. the same age as the characters in the show - those were the people who would most "get" the jokes and referencecs.

If they are marketing the show to people born in the late 70s/early 80s - it's a mistake, because most people just out of college don't have 110 bucks to put down on a "fun" show.

That would, however, explain their low attendance numbers, if that were the case.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:51pm

i hope the reviews dont hurt the show too badly, but i'm betting this show will have about a 9-month to a year or so run.
wow, the al hirschfeld is CURSED!!! :P
any more reviews?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:57pm

It won't run nine months if the major reviews are anything like these, that's for sure.

Posted: 4/27/06 at 8:59pm

I can't feel sorry for the show's creative staff. They had plenty of time to fix the show's deficiencies. A vast majority of the criticisms in all these reviews were pointed out repeatedly during its Seattle run. Next time maybe they'll actually listen to constructive criticism when they do an out-of-town tryout.
Updated On: 4/27/06 at 08:59 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:02pm

And it must be said - there is honestly only so many shows that can fit the "fun and fronthy musicals based on recent movies" genre. If WEDDING SINGER falters, I wonder if it will give producers pause over LEGALLY BLONDE, HIGH FIDELITY and all the other planned Broadway productions.

Of course, it all depends on the quality of the material.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:32pm

I wanted to see this show if and only if the reviews were anything but bad.

Well guess what? THEY WEREN'T!!!!

I was supporting this show all the way, and look where it's gotten! They had their chance to impress me, and they blew it big time. And I don't care if the music's good, I'm NOT coming and that's it.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:34pm

They had their chance to impress me, and they blew it big time. And I don't care if the music's good, I'm NOT coming and that's it.

I do hope you're being sarcastic. Otherwise, you're quite full of yourself.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:37pm

I really meant it.

I just had a bad day today. Tomorrow my feelings may change about it. But tonight, I just feel that although I see flops like these, and I usually really LOVE what I see (remember All Shook Up or Lennon?), this might not apply this time. Tomorrow, I might be very interested in attending, but for now, I'm not even gonna bother.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:43pm

Okay, so I was kidding.

I really, REALLY, really liked it. No, really. The music sounds good. Rita Gardner is a hoot as Rosie. This could last the same length as BROOKLYN or LITTLE SHOP with the good word-of-mouth to surround it. I really have high hopes for this show.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:47pm

It has Richard H Blake in it so it can't be all bad!

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:58pm

Well said, Margo. The critics are there to analyze the show, not sit back and forgive everything because its fun. Enjoy it, but don't knock those who don't. They have good reason.

[thespian geek]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 9:59pm

I was having a problem wording what I was saying, I guess.

Those of us in our 20s and a little younger know of the jokes and references in the musical, but because we didn't deal with them first hand, maybe that's why the repeatative jokes don't get old?

I mean, it seems a lot of people enjoy the show, and I don't know how old everyone is that didn't like it, but based on what I've seen personally, it seems people in their late teens/20s like it more over those that actually LIVED through the 80s.

I'm just going to shut up now, I think.