by Bonnie Collings
Big hair, loud costumes and fantastic performances will greet audiences when Warragul Theatre Company presents musical "The Wedding Singer" at the West Gippsland Arts Centre.
Opening on Friday night, the company will offer eight performances to transport patrons back in time to the 1980s.
Featuring Dave Lamb as wannabe rock-star and wedding singer Robbie Hart, and Annelise Answerth as the wedding obsessed waitress Julia Sullivan, "The Wedding Singer" cast will showcase some of Gippsland's finest creative talents.Set in New Jersey in the mid-1980s, director Kylie Sinclair said musical was about "an ordinary couple who have an extraordinary love story."
"It is a very fast-moving show, especially in act one, and it is like stepping back in time into the 80s," Kylie said. "It's such a great night out at the theatre."
The musical starts with Robbie about to marry his long-time fiancé Linda, and Julia waiting very patiently for her long-time boyfriend Glen to pop the question.
"The plot takes a turn when Linda leaves poor Robbie at the altar on the day of their wedding, and then Glen asks Julia to marry him. Julia starts to console Robbie over his loss and they become friends, but it soon becomes apparent that Julia is with the wrong guy and she starts to fall for Robbie and Robbie starts to fall for her."
"It all gets a bit complicated and both Julia and Robbie have some decisions that they need to make."
While the musical follows most of the plot from the 1998 film of the same name, there are some slight differences, including further exploration of characters and their relationships.
"There are quite a few similarities and most of the characters are the same, but there are a couple of slight differences," Kylie said.
"In the film, Robbie's giving music lessons to an elderly lady called Rosie. In the musical, Rosie is his grandmother and he lives in Rosie's basement." "Robbie's best friend Sammy in the film is a limo driver," she added. "But, in this case, he's actually a member of the band."
Another addition is a love story between Julia's cousin Holly, who is also in the in the film, and Sammy.
"It's alluded to in the film, but in the musical it's developed a little bit more," Kylie said.
Having rehearsed since late last year, Kylie said she was excited to hit the Warragul stage.
"I'm actually really excited to see how the show is going to look on stage; the costumes, the music, the set, everything's really coming together and it's going to be so much fun to watch," she said.
"The cast are working so hard and I'm really proud of them."
Dave Lamb said stepping into Robbie's shoes had been "an incredible opportunity".
"It's a bit daunting, the idea of doing a role that is so famous, that Adam Sandler did such iconic things with," Dave said.
"But the great thing is there's so much difference in the stage show from the film," he said. "There's a lot of opportunity for freshness and recreation and reinvention, and a few too many opportunities for me to be just a bit too crazy!"
Dave said a highlight of the rehearsal period had been working with the cast.
"One of the best things is meeting all of the wonderful cast who I haven't had a chance to work with before," he said. "There's such an amazing wealth of talent in Gippsland that get to be on stage in this show."
Annelise Answerth described Julie as a romantic at heart, driven by making others happy.
"She is somebody that has always done the right thing and she's always done what she has thought would make others happy," Annelise said.
"She soon realises that that doesn't serve her anymore and she needs to do the best thing for herself."
Annelise said she'd enjoyed creating her own version of the classic character.
"I've really enjoyed the process of finding Julia," she said.
"I think Kylie as a director has been amazing in giving some suggestions and pointers and making (my Julia) a little bit different to kind of the typical one that you see in the movie and finding her real goofy side."
Audiences at WTC's "The Wedding Singer" will be able to expect plenty of colour, energy and references to the 1980s.
"From the opening song it just hits you right between the eyes and you won't be able to sit still, you'll be tapping along and smiling," Kylie said.
Warragul Theatre Company will perform eight shows of "The Wedding Singer" at the West Gippsland Arts Centre between Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 31.
Tickets are $55 for general, $50 for concession and groups, and $48 for arts centre members and students.
For bookings, call the West Gippsland Arts Centre box-office on 5624 2456 or purchase online at sales.wgac.com.au
The show is recommended for audiences aged 16 years or older as it includes high impact sexual references, coarse language and theatrical violence.