Some
decades are easy to identify at a glance. And once you see a mobile phone the
size of a shoebox, you know you’re in the 1980s. (As the TV commercials said at
the time, “It weighs only two pounds!”)
Well,
that phone and lots of other ‘80s detritus is on display in The Wedding Singer, now being produced
by Mercury Summer Stock. This song-heavy adaptation of the Adam Sandler flick
features music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Tim
Herlihy and Beguelin. None of those individuals is credited in the program—either an unforgivable oversight
or a detestable decision.
Of
course, the trouble with adapting an Adam Sandler movie is that you don’t have
Adam Sandler to carry the comedy load. And that becomes evident as Will Sanborn
takes on the unenviable task of doing the title role as Robbie Hart. He’s a
singer who’s been jilted at the altar by his party-hearty fiancée Linda (a
sizzling Michelle Ireton), and starts taking his frustrations out on his two
band members and any of the subsequent weddings he’s booked into.
Sanborn
has a nice boyish quality and sings reasonably well, but his occasional
attempts at channeling a Sandler-esque delivery fall well short of the mark. As
a result, we never quite warm up to Robbie and his marital plight.
However,
there are other cast members who are ready and willing to pick up the slack. One
of Robbie’s band members is Sammy, a hefty and sweaty fellow played to the hilt
by Dan DiCello. And the other guy is (Boy) George, a flamingly gay Brian Marshall
who shows off a rather coquettish falsetto singing voice in “George’s Prayer.”
After
Robbie’s dreams are shattered, he falls in love with wedding reception waitress
Julia (Melissa Sills in an endearing and very well-sung turn). But she’s engaged
to marry Glen (Jimmy Ferko), a junk bond broker who covets only money.
And
so, the stereotypes abound as the play lurches from one derivative meme to the
next. But once you look past that, several of the songs are quite catchy, such
as Robbie’s lovesick anthem “Casualty of Love” and Glen’s tribute to bucks in
“All About the Green.” Plus, Cindi Verbelun as potty-mouth grandma Rosie and Dani Apple as Julia's cousin Holly chip in with some laughs.
Placed
on a Let’s Make a Deal set featuring
three curtains, the large and pumped-up ensemble performs admirably under the
guidance of director and choreographer Pierre-Jacques Brault and music director
Eddie Carney. In short, the show steamrolls over all the material’s inherent
bumps and turns this sack of fluff into an enjoyable (if overlong, at 2½ hours)
summertime fling.
The
Wedding Singer
Through
August 16, produced by Mercury Summer Stock at Notre Dame College, 1857 S.
Green Road, South Euclid, 216-771-5862.
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