The Wedding Singer

Warning! There’s a triple-threat explosion happening on stage at the Gold Coast’s  HOTA theatre and it’s burning with energy, enthusiasm and excellence. Forget about the book – it’s pretty forgettable, with a cliched boy loses girl, meets another girl, can’t have her … well, you’ve seen it many times before. As for the music, and lyrics, they’re suitably “pop-py” and sometimes witty. If you’ve seen the movie you know exactly what to expect.

The Wedding Singer is the perfect escapist entertainment for NOW, as we strive to bring some kind of normalcy (albeit shallow) back into our lives. Think of it as medicine for the soul.

The cast is simply amazing, with an ensemble full of star power. As for the leads, Christian Carisiou as Robbie - the title role - is endearing and an attractive presence on stage. He has a voice that ranges from pop to full blown music theatre and is a delight to watch. Teagan Wouters gives Julie a charming naivety, but the dialect does cause some diction problems in the numbers. She also gets to wear the daggiest dresses but shines in spite of them.

Kirby Burgess (one of our very best talents) as Linda, Robbie’s ex who jilted him at the altar, is just awesome. She creates sheer magic on the stage even though she only has two scenes in the entire show. The performance is electrifying.

Nadia Komazec is infectiously cute and bubbly as Julia’s best friend Holly, and her Jennifer Beals tribute moment is just wonderful. Like Kirby, she is another astonishing singer who raises the fairly average songs to a new level. Ed Deganos, with a Boy George twist, brings his fabulous unique style to the role of George, and Haydon Hawkins, barely recognisable in his Brian May wig, gives a terrific comic performance as the gormless Sammy. And then there’s the “comic relief” role of Grandma Rosie - Susan-Ann Walker, in her inimitable style, manages to steal all her scenes and stop the show on at least one occasion. She’s always a powerful force on stage, loaded with experience and presence. It’s always a pleasure to see Stephen Mahy on stage, even with a cliched character like Glen. Still, he does get to perform one of the show’s best songs.

Alister Smith’s deft hand as Director is confidently stamped on each scene. The clever, but limited, set works a treat and the lighting is superb. Daniel Puckey’s musical direction of the kick-arse band is exemplary throughout. I missed the costume credit, but they are ourageously gorgeous (though I wouldn’t have minded a few more sequins!).

But for me the standout of this thoroughly enjoyable production is the choreography.

I’ve watched Michael Ralph grow as a choreographer for seven years or so, and now he is in full bloom and surely the very best choreographer our country has to offer. Not only does he pay homage to Michael Jackson, hip-hop, disco and all the dance styles of the era, he has developed his characteristic and innovative precision hand movements to a level we can only marvel at and haven’t seen since early Fosse. Along with great technique, he injects each number with whimsy or outright comedy, getting laughs by giving each individual ensemble member a different character to play in every scene, even without dialogue. It’s amazing how dance moves can tell you everything you need to know about a character and some of the best laughs come in the dances themselves. The standout number for me was “It’s all about the Green” but “Casualty of Love” and “Saturday Night in the City” were brilliantly staged and wowed the audience.

I came out of this joyful show ready to take on the world. Pandemic? What pandemic?

Thank you to David Venn. We so appreciate a middle0sized production company that puts excellence over budget and I can’t wait to see what he produces next. The song may say “It’s All About The Green”, but really – it’s all about the TALENT.

Coral Drouyn

Photographer: Nicole Cleary