Reviews

When did the 1980s get so darn cute?

The Wedding Singer, which on Tuesday opened the Dallas Summer Musicals' 2008 season, eventually swamps itself in references to briefcase-size cellphones, junk bonds and Cyndi Lauper. But this Broadway adaptation of the 1990 movie has two hidden assets – a sweetly straightforward love story and an infectious score by Matthew Sklar.

Robbie (Merritt David Janes), the frontman in a band that plays weddings, gets stood up on his own wedding day. Slowly he realizes that he's falling for another girl, Julia (Erin Elizabeth Coors), but he hesitates to declare himself because she's engaged to a successful, if sleazy, stockbroker. As the score's most memorable song says, "Love will find a way."

The version at the Music Hall displays the usual faults of non-Equity tours: less-than-polished dancing and actors just out of school pretending lamely to be middle-aged. The happy corollary here, though, is that the larger roles are played by very talented performers of the exactly appropriate age. If you can resolutely banish all thoughts of Adam Sandler, Mr. Janes makes a lovably unpretentious hero. Ms. Coors may not radiate star power, but she's perfect as an ordinary New Jersey gal confused by her feelings.

Even more impressive are the two blond bombshells who steal the show a couple of times apiece. Andrea Andert burns up the stage as Robbie's sexpot ex-girlfriend, and Sarah Peak, as Julia's brassy best friend, proves you can sing up a storm and still be adorably funny.

Even more than when I saw The Wedding Singer in New York, I yearn to take a marker and cross out a few dozen '80s references. I also hope to see a less loud and frenetic – and in the tour's case, less cheesy – production someday. But I'd sit through a lot worse to hear Mr. Sklar's songs. So what if they remind me of Rent, The Full Monty and Wicked? There are worse models to imitate.