Being a theatre critic and seeing as many shows as I do there are always going to be musicals and plays I like more than most and naturally the reverse. One show that I seem to like more than the average theatre fan is The Wedding Singer. This is probably due to my rom-com loving roots, but I really like the songs and the script is super funny. It’s just a fun night at the theatre and Draper Historic’s new production is a terrific iteration of this musical.

I saw the Punks Cast at Draper (and will see the alternating Posers Cast) next week. This cast is strong with Tyler Rasmussen in the lead as Robbie Hart and Janelle Olsen as Julia Sullivan. I particularly appreciate how Rasmussen wasn’t trying to ape or copy Adam Sandler from the movie as I sometimes see with this musical. He gives his own take on the character and is quite charming having good chemistry with Olsen. Cyra Jensen and Eli Carrillo also give entertaining performances as Holly and Sammy respectively.

I also appreciate how director Cassidy Ross mixes together projections and practical sets and props for an effective take on the material. I’d say Draper in general uses projections some of the best of the area community theaters in this area. It was also fun how the performers came out to into the aisles to make everything a more immersive experience. For how small the stage is I really enjoyed the bubbly choreography throughout the show.

The highlights of the night are probably “Someday,” “The Casualty of Love” and “Grow Old with You.” The Wedding Singer at Draper Historic would make for a great date night. This musical does contain some mature content and would probably get a pg13 rating like the movie did. It is playing through May 31st and tickets can be purchased here.

The Wedding Singer has music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin with a book by Beguilin and Tim Herlihy based on the film script by Tim Herlihy

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