Wedding Singer- my review- 5/11/06

I never post reviews , but have read these boards for ages it seems. I look towards, Margo's, Emcees and Michael Bennett's comments alot. But after watching the train wreck of WS yesterday,..I am compelled to post here and let off some steam.
I go see theatre quite often, sometimes too much for my own good, and read alot of reviews of every show. I am in the industry on both sides of the curtain, just to give you some background as to where this review is coming from.

PLEASE do not attack my comments, it is an opinion...and I'm entitled to one, but I was so dissapointed last night,..I was racing out of the theatre before the automatic standing ovation,...when I should've left at intermission as initially intended.

To put things in a nutshell.

The corniest dialogue ever on stage. No one put any thought in this book, and even more so, the lyrics. I am a moderate fan of the original film, which had innocense, guilty pleasure and carefully crafted characters that all knew were poking fun at themselves and let the audience go for a ride.
This staged production of one of my favorite era's was remotely a tribute to the decade,..but left the characters hollow and dull, with music that was immediately forgettable.
(Dare I say it), I wished this show HAD 80's songs, at least it would've made the evening go faster and maybe had me go purchase a soundtrack after the show. (Never had I wished for a juxebox musical until now). (Dare I also say) that I found 'All SHook Up' to be a masterpiece after watching the Wedding SInger.

In those kinds of musicals and Mamma Mia,..at least the joke is on everyone....but this production had no fun, was painful to listen to,..and painful to watch. The sets were thrown up there with no thought, the staging/blocking and even choreography felt forced and every line out of everyone's mouth either was just pasted and glued from the film and done with no integrity,..and by the middle,..you don;t care for any of these characters.

About the cast,...Lynch was fine. just fine. Felicia Finley gets my kudos as Linda,..the only highlight of the show...and Amy SPanger gets my kudos...but I love her from Reefer Madness,..and I forgive her for doing this. 'Julia' was miscast. SHe looked so old and ridiculously out of place for this part...but then again,...that would be if i CARED about this show.

The ensemble was fine,..but the jokes were lame,..and tired..and I was like,..'why did they take these jobs?'. .
Integrity gone out the window.
Rando does sloppy direction...and the sad part is,..every senior citizen and tourist in the theatre was enjoying this piece of effort that was so utterly messy and not even remotely vindicating.


(ANd dare I say) that to watch the 'club scene' where they are about to go in and have Kevin Cahoon in his Boy George get up mention a joke using the word 'Taboo', and basically steal the style and choreography and lyricism of Taboo..was the last draw for me. At least Taboo had a great musical score, style, substance, a touching story and characters that made you feel.

It gave me a headache to think that audiences will flock to see this tragedy and that 'Taboo' (despite its flaws, which weren't many) was publically flogged and beaten. I truly can't understand it.

The Wedding SInger wasn't even good mindless fluff, (I think those kinds of shows are also needed on Broadway). The Wedding SInger just left me there,...'gagged with a spoon', full of Cheap Tricks and living in a box,..eyes on my watch...waiting to RUN out of there. I can't believe people are paying hard earned money, wasting gas mileage and 2 and a half hours of their lives to see this.

What a bad piece of theatre.
If you want to call it that.
I think it was absolutely one of the worst things I have seen in my life.

If you're gonna write a review, at least have the guts to open your playbill and name the actors. 'Julia' is Laura Benanti. Physically? Yeah, she's a tad miscast. But she delivers a dedicated, fanastic performance with the material she's given.

Secondly, the dialogue in the movie is corny. So what's the problem with the show having corny lines?

Matthew Sklar set out to write a show with an 80's feel score to it. And he succeeded. It might be mediocre, but so was about half of the 80's music produced. So the problem is....?

Now... I LOVED 'Taboo'. But I also love this show very much. Mindless or not, it's an absolute riot and a blast. Some people need to just let go and have a good time.

BUT ----- to each his own.

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sorry, but I felt the performance was so forced and 'musical theatre jazz handsish'.. it wasn't worth mentioning Benanti,..as I already knew it was her. Since I mentioned the names of those performers I liked, I felt she didn't need a mention. As far as 'opening my Playbill',..I didn't bother to bring it home with me, it wasn't worth it.

As previously written, I FELT..the dialogue in the movie IS corny,..but everyone in it knew that and did it with affection and let everyone in on these jokes....splashing these same lines on stage just to extend the laugh,..is a desperate attempt. And it sours by the minute especially when reruns of the original movie are playing every 5 minutes on Vh1, Comedy Central, USA and TBS. You can almost sit there and mouth every word before they even attempt to think of it...and that goes for the brand new lyrics too.

I walked into that theatre wanting it to be at least good. and wanting it to be a great turn on. I enjoyed the concession booth workers and their 80's spirit...walking into that made me feel it was going to be fun. It was absolutely dissapointing 'to the max'.

Actually, the real show was at the concession booth,..there was more energy and flair from the attendants in their 80's hair and dialogue than anyone on that stage combined.

Don't go see this wreck.

"Dare I say it", but how an it be "absolutely one of the worst things I have seen in my life."? That honor belongs to "Lestat"!

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Updated On: 5/12/06 at 11:16 AM

I liked it. Maybe it just wasn't you're sense of humor because I was laughing the entire 2 hrs or however long it was. I also found the music memorable and I heard at least half the audience singing "It's your Wedding Day" on the way out. But again, maybe it's not your thing.

Is there anyone else out there who really enjoyed the movie?

Funny enough,..
my sense of humor is very wide.
I enjoyed the 'Wedding SInger' film..
more so after watching it over and over.

I'm also a fan of cult films and instant classics.
John Waters films, even toilet humor films like Farrelly Brothers movies, or Wayans Bros. and even commercial flops such as 'Marci X' 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' 'Showgirls'and even 'The Sweetest Thing'.

I also range in comic tastes from Kathy Griffith, to Dane Cook, to RIchard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. Bill Maher, Sandra Bernhard and even George Carlin. A huge fan of SNL and Mad tV,.. I would say I have a decent pretty wide sense of humor....


I walked into that theatre with an open mind and heart,...

what I walked out with was a lemon,..and I want my money back.


To me, the Wedding SInger was an accident happening before my eyes,..
even smaller shows were better crafted like 'Trailer Park Musical' and 'Altar Boyz'...they at least had some creative thought process,..despite its flaws.

For a $110 a seat musical,..this does not deserve to be on Broadway.
Rather really bad community theatre groups that would probably give it more spirit and intention.

Theatregoers be warned.

"Secondly, the dialogue in the movie is corny. So what's the problem with the show having corny lines?"

I think there's a viable answer to this question. Clearly, film is an entirely differant beast than theater (as perhaps Disney is beginning to learn). First, there are the economic realities: I don't think many people on this board would have a problem with "Lestat", "Tarzan", "Lennon", "Ring of Fire" or any other show that failed to rise to a certain level of quality if all tickets were no more than $12.00. When you're sliding more than a hundred through the cashier's window, however, you fairly demand your money's worth and that means craftmanship.

As an example I rented a video from Blockbuster about fairly well reviewed woman who falls in love with a Russian faith healer. It set me back $6.00, I believe, maybe five. I found the ending so poorly conceived that my response was one of some agggravation. If I had invested that in a play or musical I would have been apoplectic that someone could think they could pass off such an ill-conceived piece on the public. Were it possible I would have asked for a refund.

So, there's that: going to the theater is no longer going to cost pocket change.

Second, there's simply the idea that adaptation should in some way allow for possibilities not presented in the original source material. The "Phantom of the Opera" would have closed in a week had it merely been the Lon Chaney original with ALW songs.

It is my sense that theatergoers are far more demanding than those who flock to the latest Tom Cruise thriller or the sequel to "Kill Bill". Flaws of stagecraft are far more lethal than those on movie sets. A movie can contain problems with continuity that would sink a play or musical--because of the superior knowledge of audiences.

Updated On: 5/12/06 at 03:17 PM

I found the cast to be the most boring cast on Broadway,..they looked utterly miserable and embarrassed to be doing this on stage.

'3 days' and 'odd couple' sold out their runs because they brought a magnitude of stars to sell tickets. which is why they don't even bother with publicity or ads in the papers and banners and boards. They don't need to drive a publicity machine like the wrecks of 'Wedding Singer' 'Lestat' and 'Tarzan'.
But the worse things about '3 days' and 'odd couple' is the actual stars themselves. Julia is absolutely the worst thing in that play..and nate and matthew are overdone. both also directed poorly by Joe Mantello,..who hasn't quite captured his 'Take Me Out' success. (Even 'Wicked' is poorly directed- here comes the floodgates of hell)

I go and tell people not to see a show because it would be a waste of time for them and advise them to see better things out there..especially when their money is valuable.
Fortunately, my tickets for Wedding SInger were cheap thru their press company.
And it still wasn't worth the $30 orchestra seats.

to sit thru that dreck again, is just self punishment at this point.
That show is SOOOO not 80's. It is just forced manure, recycled, repackaged and sold to the unkowing curious, tourists and senior citizens.

broadway86, yes, I love the movie. I just like the chemistry between Adam and Drew.

"For a $110 a seat musical,..this does not deserve to be on Broadway.
Rather really bad community theatre groups that would probably give it more spirit and intention. "

Thank you! That's exactly how I felt. I cringed at most of the dailogue and agree that Benanti was way to old for this part. The whole show was horribly slapped together. Granted, I saw a matinee show from box seats and had a view of everything goign on back stage so the fourth wall was broken for me. Plus the tourist crowd has a tendency to bring the show quality down as well.

"Oh no, that was my eveil twin...Drunky McWasted!" Okay, I was 24 once and I NEVER said crap like this. And not every in the 80's wore parachute pants and neon. It was if they felt a need to remind the auidence in every scene "This is about the 80's , folks!!"

Yeah, we got that.

I was embarrassed for Saldivar and Spanger. This show is beneath them. I sat behind some weird stalkerish fan boy of Benanti. He kept talking about how "Laura" does this and "Laura" does sthat because h met her once at some hotel he works at. That creeped me out, too.
I Date, Therefore I'm Bitter

Moxie, that wasn't me, was it? I doubt it, cause I never met her at a hotel. I'm friends with Laura, so when I see it, I try to get some good buzz about her by talking her up.

I'm curious who it is, as there have been stalker problems...

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The only reason the movie did well was because of the undeniable chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore. That chemistry is non-existent between Lynch and Benanti (though they're both very good individually.)