*** For those of you who know of The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, but have not been there for a while, let me tell you “There is a new sheriff in town”. Not really a sheriff, but an artistic director. Her name is Johanna McKenzie Miller, and she is a true “theater person”. Johannna has been active in our “Chicago Theater Scene” for many years as performer and director, and brings with her a great knowledge of the stage and also a great many talented performers, directors, choreographers ,and assorted other theater people. You will notice this for yourself if you are still attending their productions, and if not, it is time to begin or return to this venue.
The current production, “The Wedding Singer’ is based on the film written by Tim Herlihy and starring Adam Sandler. The musical version has a book by Herlihy and Chad Beguelin, with music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Beguelin. This “rom-com” is finely directed by Amber Mak, with some high energy choreography by Nich O’Neil. The stage at The Metropoilis is one that is quite difficut to work with. There is no curtain to open and close. There is no orchestra pit, so the musicians end up onstage and due to the above, a set is quite difficult to design. Milo Bue made it work, with units that could come on and off and slide under the band stand, making the transitions from scene to scene move quickly. Mak also used the aisles wisely allowing the audience to feel that they had broken the fourth wall and were sort of “in on the story”.
When one takes a film that was highly regarded back in te last century and converts it to a live musical, one is hoping that audiences will not do the comparison that takes place. After all, a film can be cut and spliced to make the action seem as if it is happening, and a live stage show must make it happen right now! And then again and again for the entire run. It is also a hard task for an actor to work on the character they are playing and make it his or her own. Adam Sandler is a tough act to follow, but young Abraham Deitz-Green pulled it off. He made Robbie Hart a special young man who was looking for love.
Robby is The Wedding Singer, working with his trio, composed of himself and Sammy ( Danny Dollase) and George ( deftly handled by Andres J. DeLeon). They work at one particular wedding banquet center regularly and work with two of the ladies there, Holly ( a powerful interpretation byJamie Dillon Grossman) and Julia ( played to perfection by Teah Kiang Mirabelli). Julia is engaged to a powerhouse financial agent, Glen ( Peyton Schoenhofer), but is not sure if he truly loves her as it appears that he is out partying nightly with other ladies. Robbie gets left at the alter and as he tries to heal his wounds, we see the chemistry between Him and Julia start to grow.
While all of the main characters tell the story, it is a powerful ensemble piece and this ensemble truly helps create a story that is stronger than the original film version. The ensemble members: Caron Buinis ( Rosie), Jodi Gage,( Angie), Katherine Abel ( Linda),Corey Barlow, Christina Benninghoff-Uribe, Kiana Beverly, Matthew Hommel ( who does a great Ronald Reagan as well as a drunk in the bar), Nick Johnson, Emily McCormick, Kate E. McQuinlan, Tyler Meyer, Kameron Rojas-Scheunemen, Kylie Tollefson, Amanda Donohoe and Kyle Widener. Great work. You should be proud.
The tech on this show is perfect. Costumes by Matthew Carl, lighting by Sarah Riffle, sound by Sarah Ramos, assitant sound by JINX and some great props by Reiley Duffy helps the audience keep up with the story. The wigs by Mark Park help set the tone for all the unique characters played by this sterling ensemble. Let us not foget the band under the direction of Musical Director/Conductor/keyboards: Carolyn Brady. They were terrific.
“The Wedding Singer” will continue at The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre located at 111 West Campbell Street thru May 24th with performances as follows:
Thursdays 7:30 p.m. ( on May 7th a 2 p.m. performance)
Fridays 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sundays 2:00 p.m.
CLOSED CAPTION Saturday, May 9th 2 p.m.
ASL INTERPRETATED Thursday, May 14th 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available by calling 847-577-2121 or visit www.MetropolisArts.com
There is plenty of free parking, but many of the area streets are closed off for the season of outside dining. The city garage is available but right now, the elevators are not functioning properly, so give yourself some extra time. This is a fun show and the new staff just keeps getting stronger. By te way, tickets range from $25 to $49.
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Weding Singer”.
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