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NY Theater: “The Wedding Singer” revives the 80s in a campy rompSend-ups of love, Wall Street and politics stoke the laughsBy Lucy KomisarDirector John Rando, known for the brilliantly campy “Urinetown,” has another success here with a witty, lively send-up of 1980s style -- a Boy George look-alike (Kevin Cahoon) with long hair and swishy demeanor – mixed with a 1950s “gotta get a husband” attitude.
While we wait for the inevitable to happen, book writers Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy pile one old joke on another – Julia’s pushy mother, Angie (Adinah Alexander), girls comparing notes about boys – and make them come out fresh and funny. Swinging grandma Rosie (Rita Gardner) is a hoot. Tacky Linda sings outrageously dark lyrics and wears a spike choker.
A word must be said about designer Scott Pask’s terrific sets. Pask’s vision of New Jersey -- two-story houses with sloping roofs, gray siding and postage-stamp lawns -- evokes the community where I grew up, though that was in Long Island. But in Newark, Pask can sit us in a rooftop restaurant with a view of a tank farm.
Holly (Amy Spanger) a smashing blonde dancer with a brassy voice, who reminds one of a young Bernadette Peters, highlights a disco scene peopled by the “bridge and tunnel crowd.” Choreographer Rob Ashford makes the room shoot stars! But the pièce de résistance is the brilliant fake wedding in a Las Vegas “Oval office.” A sign says, “Bedtime for Bonzo;” several witnesses wear dark glasses and secret service ear pieces. Among the guests are a Tina Turner look-alike and Imelda Marcos with a Ferragamo shoe box. Costume designer Gregory Gale outdoes himself. Look, you really have to be there. Which is actually a pretty good idea! “The Wedding Singer.” Music by Matthew Sklar. Lyrics by Chad Beguelin. Book by Chad Beguelin & Tim Herlihy. Directed by John Rando. Choreography by Rob Ashford. Sets by Scott Pask. Costumes by Gregory Gale. Music Director James Sampliner. Starring Stephen Lynch, Laura Benanti, Rita Gardner, Richard H. Blake, Kevin Cahoon, Felicia Finley, Tina Maddigan, Matthew Saldivar, Amy Spanger, Adinah Alexander, Matt Allen, Tracee Beazer, Cara Cooper, Ashley Amber Haase, Nicolette Hart, Angelique Ilo, David Josefsberg, Peter Kapetan, Kevin Kern, Spencer Liff, Michael McGurk, J. Elaine Marcos, T. Oliver Reid, Christina Sivrich, Matthew Stocke, Eric Lajuan Summers. Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 302 West 45th Street. Tue 7pm; Wed - Sat 8pm; Wed, Sat 2pm; Sun 3pm. Running Time 2:30. $56.25 - $111.25. 212-239-6200. http://theweddingsingerthemusical.com/ Photos by Joan Marcus. |
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The
long joke is about a small-time band leader and guitarist, Robbie (Stephen
Lynch), who wants to write rock hits. Robbie is smitten with a rather tacky lady
named Linda, (Felicia Finley). She ditches him, but he is too dumb to notice
Julia (Laura Benanti), the charming waitress who works in the catering hall
where he plays weddings, bar mitzvahs and other milestone events.
Robbie’s
failed romance sends a dark cloud over his spirit, which yields a frantic “love
song”: “I hope you fucking choke, somebody kill me please.” Nothing and no one
is what you’d expect. Wholesome Grandma, whose basement he occupies in
Ridgefield, NJ, tells him he’ll find someone else and that faithless Linda is a
whore.
As
in “Urinetown,” politics is an undercurrent. Robbie tries to get a day job and
runs into the world of Ivan Boesky insider trading. In a green strobe light
show, traders in gray suits do a number that urges one to “Sell high, buy low,
leverage your portfolio.” They chant about “power lunching in your power tie.
It’s all about the green. If you sell your soul at least you’ve made a sale.”
It’s witty, it’s entertaining, it’s of the moment.