Jim Kershner: Strong cast outshines formulaic ‘Wedding’

Let me think – what nice things can I say about “The Wedding Singer,” the touring Broadway musical based on the Adam Sandler movie?

“Well, it was certainly loud enough. No straining to hear all of those ersatz ‘80s songs.

“And the plot was certainly simple to follow. Will Robbie ever get up the nerve to tell Julia how he feels? And vice-versa? The suspense was unbearable.

“And finally – and I really mean this part – the show has a talented and energetic cast, with a number of bright, funny performances.

Yet what is this talent used for?

“The Wedding Singer” is one of the shallowest musical comedies I can remember – and shallowness is a common hazard in musical comedies. This thing makes “Grease” look like Dickens.

The plot follows an unoriginal formula: Boy loses girl, boy is consoled by understanding female friend, boy slowly falls in love with friend. Nothing wrong with that. Ditzy musicals have been using that formula since the 1920s. Except this show offers nothing else – no larger themes and no point whatsoever – except ‘80s nostalgia.

We’re supposed to revel in the ‘80s haircuts, the ‘80s clothes and even the ‘80s celebrity impersonators (a fake Mr. T, a fake Cyndi Lauper and a fake Imelda Marcos).

Relying solely on nostalgia is dangerous for two reasons. First, that ‘80s nostalgia might work fine for those who were between 12 and 20 in 1985, but for the rest of the audience? They might not find the Flock of Seagulls references all that hilarious. Second, this show doesn’t deliver genuine ‘80s nostalgia, the way the movie did with its Culture Club-New Order-Thompson Twins soundtrack. This stage version serves up only imitation ‘80s songs.

We hear songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin that are supposed to sound – kinda, sorta – like Madonna or Billy Idol or Culture Club. And even then, the show’s idea of what constitutes ‘80s music is restricted to Top 40 pop stuff. For instance, the main character, Robbie Hart, walks around in a Van Halen T-shirt for half the show, but we never hear anything that remotely sounds like Van Halen.

A cast of talented performers try their mightiest to keep this show afloat, and mostly they succeed through sheer force of will. Merritt David Janes is an endearing and lovable Robbie Hart, who captures the boyish Sandler charm without ever imitating Sandler.

Erin Elizabeth Coors is enormously likeable as Julia, the waitress Robbie falls for. Coors has a high, pure, accurate singing voice and she creates a nuanced, three-dimensional character, no small feat in this show.

Several supporting performances are terrific, especially John Jacob Lee as George, a kind of Boy George-ish character, always sweeping his hair out of his eyes. Justin Jutras shows good comic flair as the doltish but good-hearted Sammy. The ensemble is polished, professional and full of energy.

But, oh, the clichés they all have to endure. This is one of those shows where, when you see an elderly lady, you just know that sooner or later she’s going to sing a rap song or do some break-dancing (or, in this case, both). When somebody breaks into a sweet, sincere ballad, you just know that, by the third verse, it will end up being rude and/or obscene.

The previous Broadway touring musical, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” was also crass in many of the same ways, but I gave that show the benefit of the doubt because at least the script was ingenious.

But “The Wedding Singer”? It’s nothing more than a VH1 “I Love the ‘80s” nostalgia-fest. Except … were the ‘80s this obnoxious?