Think of the Aurora Fox’s staging of “The Wedding Singer” as your best friend — who got left at the altar.
He’s funny, full of pep and the life of the party. A keeper. But on the biggest night of his life, a key member of the wedding party failed to show up.
With the regional premiere of this Tony-nominated lark that recycles the nostalgia of the 1980s (that Adam Sandler’s source movie first recycled in the ’90s), the Fox is hoping to move up in class with the kind of big, high-energy musicals we’re more used to seeing at the Arvada Center.
The cast is filled with established local names and emerging talent. The director is none other than “So You Think You Can Dance” choreographer Mandy Moore, who produces several signature splashy numbers that prove why, yes, you very much can dance.
But from a technical point of view, this is one show in need of a rehearsal dinner. Because just about everything that could go wrong on opening night did. The sweaty backstage crew worked like oxen to nudge a rotating turntable stage that moved like molasses and cried out for gallons of WD-40. The actors’ body mics were spotty, making it hard to hear. A key scene was performed in the dark. A grandmother even lost a note down her own dress.
Yes, it was that bad.
And that’s what we call due diligence. Opening night was also a silly sweet, guilty-pleasure good time, one that could yet catch fire if the Fox team can get it together. I snickered more throughout this quirky stage adaptation than I ever did watching that awful movie.
The credit starts with a thoroughly endearing performance from Ben Dicke as slacker ’80s wedding singer Robbie Hart, who sours on love — and wedding singing — after being dumped by a feral little hellcat named Linda (Amanda Earls). How charming is Dicke as the lovable loser who works his way out of the romantic (and literal) Dumpster, with the help of a saccharine waitress right out of “The Donna Reed Show”? He almost makes me not want to hate Sandler. (Almost.)
From start to finish, it’s fun. I mean, come on, the audience in the front row might get wet — or burned. And how often does that happen in a theater?
The story, set in 1985, opens at a tacky wedding not unlike the 327 of them I attended in the ’80s: Big hair, gaudy dresses, ruffled tuxedo shirts, cheesy music and pyrotechnics of the real and drunken emotional kind. Our rocking band is led by Arvada Center musical director David Nehls, who also plays a charming Boy George wannabe who none of his pals seems to notice is coming out.
This time-capsule musical takes us back to the heyday of “Flashdance,” the aerobics craze, Erik Estrada and “Where’s the beef?” Costumer Meredith Murphy invokes parachute pants, Van’s tennies and a mall-rat army of Madonna look-alikes in fashionable combat boots.
But Moore’s production is too ambitious for the Fox stage to handle, which slows the storytelling momentum. It really catches fire — and we’re not talking Robbie’s lighting his guitar on fire — when Moore does what Moore does best: ferocious numbers that seriously exercise every muscle in her able dancers’ bodies. The all-original score hints of iconic artists from Styx to Van Halen to Barry White, highlighted, appropriately enough, by the “Thriller”-inspired “Casualty of Love” and the sweaty “Saturday Night in the City.”
Tim Herlihy’s script gives all the best lines to Robbie (“I think I’m lying in creamed corn”), which makes Brianna Firestone’s turn as eventual love interest Julie fairly thankless. The only time the show grows tiresome is her doe-eyed vacillation between Robbie and her slimy, cheating, junk-bond fiance.
Robert Michael Sanders and Piper Lindsay Arpan are winning as the uncouth best friends who inevitably get it together. Veteran actor Sue Leiser raps and revels in the raunch as Robbie’s inappropriate grandmother, Rosie. Steven J. Burge has a fun turn as a Billy Idol impersonator. It ends with a “megamix” curtain-call singalong to tunes by Queen, Van Halen and more.
“The Wedding Singer” is an affectionate return to a time in our lives no one should reasonably want to return to. Except for these couple of breezy hours at the Aurora Fox.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“The Wedding Singer”
Retro musical. Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Directed by Mandy Moore. Starring Ben Dicke, Brianna Firestone, Robert Michael Sanders and Piper Lindsay Arpan. Through March 6. 2 hours, 15 minutes. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. $20-$24. Note: Profanity, adult situations. 303-739-1970
This weekend’s theater openings
“Crime and Punishment” This streamlined, lean and mean 90-minute adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s literary masterpiece is set in the mind of the murderer, where he relives and explores the events that drove him to his horrible crime. “Crime and Punishment” is reimagined as a psychological journey that seeks to unveil hidden dimensions of the human condition. Through March 5. Presented by the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., 303-839-1361 or 303-444-7328 or
and here’s
“Equus” In Peter Shaffer’s enduring British drama, a psychiatrist works with a troubled 17-year-old boy to determine why he has committed a brutal act against six horses. Through March 20. Vintage Theatre, 2119 E. 17th Ave., 303-839-1361 or
“Love Letters” In A.R. Gurney’s simple play, two actors tell the story of a 50-year romance by reading the notes, letters and cards that have passed between them throughout their separated lives. Through Feb. 20. Presented by Steel City at Pueblo Central High School, 216 E. Orman Ave. 719-258-8399 or
“A Man for All Seasons” Robert Bolt’s classic play, based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, is about one man’s struggle to stand by his beliefs and the price he pays for his conviction. Through Feb. 26. Jones Theatre, 119 Main St., Westcliffe, 719-783-3004 or
“The Philanderer” George Bernard Shaw’s 1898 play uses the story of a single mother to take aim at gender inequity, the medical profession, the generation gap and, most important, the influence of maverick playwright Henrik Ibsen on the theater. Through March 5. Presented by the Upstart Crow at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-7328 or
“A Picasso” In this honored two-character play, the famous artist Pablo Picasso is confronted in 1941 Paris by a “cultural attache” from the German secret police. Through March 20. Presented by OpenStage & Company at the Nonesuch Theater, 216 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-221-6730 or
This week’s video podcast: Jamie Billings in “Spring Awakening”
Denver native Jamie Billings, an ensemble member and understudy in the national touring production of “Spring Awakening,” played of Ilse in her first night back in her hometown, Feb. 15, 2011. Video by John Moore. Running time: 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page. Or check out our listings or
The Running Lines blog
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of the latest theater news, including the latest on Shadow Theatre, and Denver native Sierra Boggess’ casting in the upcoming Broadway production of “Master Class”:
