I came to The Wedding Singer with no preconceptions, having never seen this 2006 Broadway stage musical or the 1998 Hollywood rom-com on which it is based.
A cloud of ignorance likewise encompassed the identities of all involved with it – including the songwriters Matthew Sklar (music) and Chad Beguelin (lyrics) – and indeed the very concept of a wedding singer.
On to the clean slate I started with were quickly inscribed impressions entirely favourable to this heart-tugging, tuneful and often hilarious show, and the amazingly talented Musical Youth Company of Oxford delivering it.
That we were in for sure-footed entertainment from director Nicola Blake was evident in the opening number, showing us a high-profile nuptials gig for singer Robbie (Kiran Double) and wannabe rock-star bandmates Sammy (Daniel North) and George (Isaac Jackson), a look- and sound-alike for a ‘Boy’ of that name.
Besides the impressive singing talents of all performers (under musical director Dan Knight), we relish at once the role of design (Ms Blake again), lighting (Ashley Bale), costumes (Anna North) and choreography (Jess Townsend) in creating a simulacrum of the 1980s in which the action is set.
READ MORE: Why The Wedding SInger is a match made in heaven for young stars
Robbie’s own wedding quickly follows – a disaster in the no-show of tough-cookie fiancée Linda (Molly Mullins) who bursts from the wedding cake (in everyone’s imagination) to deliver her high-kicking, hilarious Note of Apology.
Happily for him and romance, waitress Julie (Amber Potter) awaits, the spark of love evident at their first meeting.
Alas for Robbie, he’s set for some waiting too, along with the audience, as his gal takes an age to recognise that ghastly city shark fiancé Glen (Ioan Ooshuizen) isn’t for her, as his surname should have indicated. Julia Guglia!
In the meantime, Robbie has endured a no-action date with Julia’s good-sort pal Holly (Ellis Lovett) – soon to turn to doting Sammy – and rejected a reunion raunchily proposed by his ex Linda during her second, highly acrobatic, comic number, Let Me Come Home.
Sarah Coumbe as Robbie’s groovy gran and Grace Noble as Julia’s Partonesque mum (looks-wise) show MYCO can do old, too.
Brilliant stuff!
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