Wedding singer Wed. 2/15 review

I flew out to Seattle on Wednesday to catch The Wedding Singer, and let me say, I was VERY pleasantly surprised. Reading the reviews made me a little afraid of going all that way, but once I got there, the show really impressed me. It was really a fun time, and one of the funniest shows I have seen in a while. They did have merchandise there...shirts, hats, etc. Songs that really stood out to me were definitely Rosie's song "Eight Men," "A Note From Linda," "Pop," Come Out of the Dumpster," "Saturday Night in the City," "All About The Green," and "Let Me Come." The set was MUCH better than I expected. Some new things that I have never seen before I was really impressed by. I also thought the lighting was wonderful, as was the choreography. I won't go into too much detail, but I will give a review of the performers. First of all, the ensemble is top notch. They had amazing amounts of energy, and I could tell that they were having so much fun.

Sammy: Matthew Saldivar-Great comedic timing, and a wonderful presence on stage. He had some great moments, and I think he is definitely right for the role.

Glen Guglia: Richard H. Blake-Absolutely perfect in the role...not much else I can say!

George: Kevin Cahoon-Wonderful for the role, and he seemed to really enjoy himself, and the audience really enjoyed him.

Linda: Felicia Finley-THE STAR OF THE SHOW. Felicia is absolutely amazing. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Very rare do many things make me laugh, but Felicia was AMAZING. She is the rock of this production, and they use her just enough to always want more.

Rosie: Christina Sivirich (understudy)-I don't know if this was CHristina's first time as Rosie, but she did an AMAZING job. I was so impressed...lots of talent here.

Holly: Amy Spanger-In a close second place with the title of star of the show in my book. Amy's voice far surpasses Laura's, and she really has the perfect look and personality for the role. She was wonderful.

Julia Sullivan: Laura Benanti-I was actually pleasantly surprised. I was expecting her to be pretty bad in the role considering all of the bad mouth about her being miscast. She was better than I thought, but I do have to agree she was miscast. She has no chemistry with Stephen, and they really did not make her look the part (i.e. a ratty hair look that doesn't look like the hair in the video). She does have a spark to her, but I wasn't impressed when she completely broke character at the end when someone else made her laugh and she couldn't stop. The actress who made her laugh had to run over and hug her so she would stop. Although it was funny and kind of entertaining, it's also a Broadway show, and things like this should never happen.

Robbie Hart: Stephen Lynch-PERFECT for the role. Wonderful voice, comedic timing and presence. I loved him!

That's about it, guys!

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Yep. GREAT scene.

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*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The way they had Julia and Glen flying on the airplane in the back with the air whizzing by them looked really cool, and the usage of the mini plan is really funny, too. The show had a lot of shifts, and they were the smoothest ones I have ever seen! I also loved the restaurant because they made it look like the restaurant was floating on the water almost, and each time a couple would get engaged in front of Julia...their dinner table and chairs would float across the stage so the actors could do their part, and then they would ride off...if that makes sense. I just thought all of the set pieces were really fun, and colorful. I also really liked the usage of Julia's room. She was in front of her window, and the whole piece rotated around to show her inside her room behind the window when Robbie was watching her.

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I don't know. Maybe it's just me. Or my taste in musicals. But I watched the video highlight from "The Wedding Singer" and all that struck me was that every single song in the the show seemed to sound alike. It was all a blur. There was nothing, I guess I'd say, original to the music. Is it me? Cause it just doesn't sound all that original or even melodic (and I understand it's a period piece but still...). Those that have read any comments on this site by me before know I really, seriously support the industry (and the art) so it's hard for me to say this, but this stuff just leaves me cold.

What am I missing?

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oops, double post

Updated On: 2/17/06 at 04:47 PM

Feel bad? I'm sure many people enjoy it, and are entitled to. But I can't imagine many musical theatre aficionados finding it enjoyable. I was able to bear both acts, but several friends left at intermission.

Every musical at the 5th Avenue gets a standing ovation.

And people can hate what they want too.

Depends. Many are able to see past the paper thin book and some really odd choices, some aren't.

Sorry if I'm a downer. What I meant was the music doesn't sound very melodic. It's all the same . Like elevator music (which must be devastating to the composer. Again I'm sorry, but that's just what I'm hearing.) I suppose 5 minutes of Rent would be about the same but 5 minutes of Dreamgirls highlights would be pretty damn amazing. Hell, even a medely from Avenue Q or Putman would have more than one rythm and have some hummable tunes. Okay even Rent had a few humable tunes.

Do those of you that went to see the show often find yourself humming the tunes from the show?

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