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Here Comes the Bride: The Wedding Singer Begins Broadway Previews March 30
By Andrew Gans
30 Mar 2006
After an out-of-town tryout at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, The Wedding Singer — the new musical based on the Adam Sandler film of the same name — begins previews at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre March 30 toward an April 27 opening.
Tony Award winner John Rando—of Urinetown fame —directs the musical, which is based on the popular 1998 New Line Cinema film. Composer Matthew Sklar and lyricist Chad Beguelin penned the score; the book was written by Beguelin and Tim Herlihy. Thoroughly Modern Millie Tony winner Rob Ashford choreographs.
Singer and comedian Stephen Lynch heads the cast as Robbie Hart opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti, who plays his love interest Julia.
About his character, Lynch said, “[Robbie] has a lot of heart. He's enthusiastic about what he does. He loves music, he loves weddings. 'Love is what I do' is what he sings in the opening number. He loves to be in love. He loves his band, and he loves to play, and then he gets this wrench thrown into the works by being left at the altar, and it just sends him into this tailspin. It sounds cheesy, but through the power of love, he comes back from that, and he's his old self again, and everything's great.”
When asked what she thinks draws Julia to Robbie, co-star Benanti said, “[It's his] kindness and sweetness, and he's real and he cares about people, and he appreciates her. He sees her for who she is, which is a 26-year-old woman who lives with her mom and works as a waitress. But he sees inside of her, her essence, and he loves it. And she loves him back. And they have fun together, and it's funny and it's easy. And that's what it really should be at the end of the day.”
The Wedding Singer company also features Matthew Saldivar (Atlantic's Sea of Tranquility) as Robbie's best friend Sammy and Richard Blake (Hairspray, Aida) as Julia's fiancé Glen Gulia. Rita Gardner (Luisa in the original cast of The Fantasticks) is the wise and lovable grandmother Rosie, Kevin Cahoon (The Lion King, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) is outrageous band member George; Felicia Finley (Aida, Smokey Joe's Café) is the ex-fiancée Linda; and Amy Spanger (Kiss Me, Kate revival; tick, tick…BOOM!) is Holly, Julia's Madonna-wannabe cousin and best friend.
Rounding out the cast are Tina Maddigan, Adinah Alexander, Matt Allen, Tracee Beazer, Cara Cooper, Ashley Amber Haase, Nicolette Hart, Angelique Ilo, David Josefsberg, Peter Kapetan, Kevin Kern, Spencer Liff, Joanne Manning, J. Elaine Marcos, Michael McGurk, T. Oliver Reid, Christina Sivrich, Matthew Stocke and Eric Lajuan Summers.
In The Wedding Singer "it's 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey's favorite wedding singer," according to the producers. "He's the life of the party-until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding he plays as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. Only trouble is Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of the decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. With a brand new score that pays loving homage to the pop songs of the 1980s, The Wedding Singer takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer just might be the coolest guy in the room."
Song titles include "It's Your Wedding Day," "Right on Time," "Awesome," "A Note From Linda," "Pop," "Somebody Kill Me," "Rosie's Note," "Casualty of Love," "Come Out of the Dumpster," "Today You Are a Man," "George's Prayer," "Not That Kind of Thing," "Saturday Night in the City," "All About the Green," "Right in Front of Your Eyes," "Single," "If I Told You," "Let Me Come Home," "Move That Thang" and "Grow Old With You."
The set design for The Wedding Singer is by Scott Pask; the costume design is by Gregory Gale; the lighting design is by Brian MacDevitt; the sound design is by Peter Hylenski; the hair design is by David Brian Brown; the make-up design is by Joe Dulude. Orchestrations are by Irwin Fisch; the music director is James Sampliner.
The Wedding Singer is produced by Margo Lion, New Line Productions, Inc., The Araca Group, Roy Furman, Doug Meyer/James D. Stern Productions, Rick Steiner, Steve Traxler/Jam Theatricals, in association with Adam Epstein, Jay Furman, Michael Gill, Allan S. Gordon, Dr. Lawrence Horowitz, Elan V. McAllister, Marisa Sechrest, and Gary Winnick.
Performance schedule for The Wedding Singer is Monday-Saturday at 8 PM and Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM. The Al Hirschfeld Theatre is located in Manhattan at 302 West 45th Street. For tickets call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.
For information about The Wedding Singer, visit www.theweddingsingerthemusical.com.
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Stephen Lynch and Laura Benanti in The Wedding Singer.
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