The story tells of Robbie Hart, who makes a living serenading brides and grooms at their wedding receptions. When he himself gets left at the altar, he becomes morose and cynical about relationships not realizing that he has already met his soul mate.

The romantic comedy was released on Valentines Day 1998 and went on to gross $123 million.


It’s always a tricky proposition to take a hit movie, add songs to it and put it on stage. Broadway producers are always looking to lure new audiences by offering familiar titles; some of these shows have been enormously successful. The Lion King and The Producers are two Tony Award winners that come to mind. Others, however, have been expensive disasters, such as the recent Shrek and Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

The transition of The Wedding Singer from screen to stage took eight years. Chad Beguelin adapted the book from the screenplay and joined forces with Tim Herliy to do the lyrics. The basic storyline remains the same, but a few plot points have been changed in Beguelin’s adaptation, resulting in an even better narrative flow.

In addition, with musicals the songs can help reveal more about what the characters are thinking and feeling. Whereas the movie used a number of 1980’s pop songs to give the proper period feel. Matthew Sklar’s score for the musical is entirely original but includes a number of 80’s styled songs for Robbie’s band. There are also many plot-related solos and duets. The result is a lively, entertaining mélange, which can be heard on the original cast recording available on the Masterworks Broadway label from Sony.

After a successful try-out at Seattle’s famed Fifth Avenue Theatre, The Wedding Singer fast tracked to Broadway where it opened in April of 2006 and was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Musical of the season. After 285 performances the show launched a national tour, which surprisingly did not play any stops in Canada. Now a second tour is on the road and will come to the Rose Theatre for three performances March 12 and 13.


“Yeah, When it’s your wedding day

All the problems melt away

If you count on me ‘cause love is what I do!”