Let’s head back to the 1980s! This lively and energetic musical is based on the hilarious 1998 hit film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore; featuring songs that harken to your favourite '80's artistes. Zodiac cordially invited the audience to just say ‘yes’ to this romantic musical comedy. The musical tells a simple love story of it’s two main characters, Julia (Kirsten Dunn) a waitress and Robbie (Blair Smith) a wannabe rock star. Blair Smith played this lead role with real flair, putting in a great performance and his voice was able to balance beautifully with a wide variety of songs. He was able to play the rollercoaster of emotions felt by Robbie Hart well. Robbie moves from being the best wedding singer in New Jersey to a bitter bad wedding singer who was jilted at the altar at his own wedding. The female lead, Julia played by Kristen Dunn, put in a particularly strong performance, both in acting and singing. These two leads worked really well together complementing each other and moving the show along at a swift pace. ‘Come Out Of The Dumpster’ is when we see Robbie and Julia’s relationship develop. This number was an audience favourite with great facial expressions and perfectly timed pauses, it was very comical to watch and well-staged.
What could be a simple love story is complicated by Julia’s relationship with the Wall Street high-flyer Glen played brilliantly by Mackauley Carter. Carter looked the part with a slightly sleazy edge and showed all the necessary traits to leave us in no doubt that he was the ‘baddy’ in the production, with his selfish, swaggering persona and arrogant dealings with Julia and Robbie. He is an attractive man and he knows it, with a successful job and an eye for the ladies. He is a bit of a womanizer and has no intention of staying faithful to Julia. Constantly buying Julia's love with his money and any other women that may take his fancy.
Opening the show with ‘It’s Your Wedding Day’ had the audience tapping their feet excited for more. The bride in this number clearly stood out of the crowd with her dancing and great facial expressions, it clearly was her wedding day! The ensemble not only added colour, depth and harmony but many had smaller roles to play and they all did a great job. The other band members were Sammy (Tom Ray) and George (Tayler Spruce). Sammy the bass player in the wedding band, came over as an abrasive character pretending to love being a bachelor when he is actually in love with Holly (Chloe Pennington). George, the band's keyboardist, is sensitive and somewhat flamboyant, the opposite to Sammy's macho attitude. This pair were great comical characters and added a different slant to the production.
This production has many scene changes and with the combination of a large ensemble mixed with space restrictions the Grange Theatre creates, director Lou Steggals clearly worked really resourcefully to maximise every inch allowing all the ensemble space. ‘If I Told You’ was staged beautifully using the different levels of the stage. The stage crew needed a bigger mention in the programme as they had too much presence on the stage however I believe certain scene transitions could have been completed using the cast in costume.
A shout out has to be made to Kate Walker who played Robbie’s Grandma Rosie. Her characterisation was brilliant with lots of little details, Walker gave an outstanding performance that had the audience roaring with laughter and wanting more.
The opening of act two, ‘All About Green’ was a real audience pleaser and the costumes certainly fitted the mood, I especially liked the green ties and the business suits. Carter showed he is a good all-rounder in this number dancing with the dancers during the dance break. The choreography by Jessica Martin and assisted by Jack Davies for this number was sharp and had some eye-catching moments.
There were a few lighting problems within the production where some of the cast were not lit or just standing slightly outside the light, shadowing their faces.
The music was directed well by Craig Price with eight band members including himself. The band had the audience wanting more, giving high energy music such as ‘Saturday Night In The City’. Craig Price worked hard with the cast during the performance keeping them in time with the band. ‘Single’ was another great number during this production. The men were all drinking in a bar, while Robbie was drowning his sorrows about Julia. The cast in this number added a great comical feel-good energy to the stage and brought their induvial characters to life during the dancing.
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening at The Grange Theatre, there were so many little details that made the show special and each and every member of cast and crew should be proud of what they have achieved.
Reviewer - Abigail Bradbury
on - 11.11.23
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