Party Like it’s 1985! Seattle Hosts The Pre-Broadway World Premiere of The Wedding Singer
Performances: January 31 – February 19, 2006
Corrected Opening/Press Night: February 9, 2006 8 p.m.
Broadway Opening: April 27, 2006
SEATTLE – Audiences at The 5th Avenue Theatre will travel back in time – to 1985 – for the pre-broadway world premiere of THE WEDDING SINGER. Tickets are on sale now. The Seattle WEDDING SINGER cast will move directly to Broadway and open the show on April 27, 2006 at a Jujamcyn Theatre. Broadway previews will begin on March 30, 2006.
Singer, comedian and star of Comedy Central Stephen Lynch (stephenlynch.com) will star as Robbie Hart opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti (Nine, Swing!, Into the Woods, laurabenanti.com) who stars as his love interest Julia. Rita Gardner (the original cast of The Fantasticks) is the wise and lovable grandmother Rosie and Richard Blake (Hairspray, Aida) plays Julia’s fiancé Glen Gulia. Kevin Cahoon (The Lion King) is the Boy-George-ish band member George and Felicia Finley (Aida) is the ex-fiancée Linda. Matthew Saldivar plays Robbie’s best friend Sammy. The role of Holly will be announced at a later date.
Ensemble cast include: Adinah Alexander, Matt Allen, Tracee Beazer, Cara Cooper, Ashley Amber Haase, Nicolette Hart, Angelique Ilo, David Josefsberg, Peter Kapetan, Kevin Kern, Spencer Liff, J. Elaine Marcos, Michael McGurk, Christina Sivrich, Matthew Stocke Eric Lajuan Summers and Tina Maddigan as the standby for Julia.
THE WEDDING SINGER is based upon the wildly popular New Line Cinema film, which opened in 1998. Like the movie, the musical is set in 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer. He’s the life of the partyóuntil his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a sweet-tempered waitress who wins his affection. The only trouble is… Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark. Unless Robbie can pull off the performance of the decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. With a brand new score that pays loving homage to the pop songs of the ‘80s, THE WEDDING SINGER takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up and a wedding singer just might be the coolest guy in the room.
The music is by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin and book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy. John Rando (Urinetown) will direct this new musical. Rob Ashford is the choreographer, Scott Pask is the scenic designer, Gregory Gale is the costume designer, Brian MacDevitt is the lighting designer, Peter Hylenski is the sound designer and David Brian Brown and Joe Dulude will design the hair and make-up respectively. Orchestrations are by Irwin Fisch with dance arrangements by David Chase. THE WEDDING SINGER will be conducted by James Sampliner.
THE WEDDING SINGER is from the producers of HAIRSPRAY, led by Margo Lion, New Line Cinema and The 5th Avenue Theatre. Additional producers include: The Araca Group, Douglas Meyer, James D. Stern, Roy Furman, Rick Steiner, Jam Theatricals, Michael Gill, Dr. Lawrence Horowitz and Jujamcyn Theatres.
Tickets to THE WEDDING SINGER are on sale now and priced from $19 to $71. Tickets are available over the phone through Ticketmaster at 206-292-ARTS (2787), online at www.ticketmaster.com or in person at the box office in downtown Seattle. There is no service charge when purchasing tickets in person at The 5th Avenue Theatre Box Office. For groups, please contact Michele Gray at 206-625-1418 or groups@5thavenuetheatre.org.
The 5th Avenue Theatre (Producer). For more than 75 years this beautiful historic theatre has served as Seattle’s premier showplace. The 2005-2006 Season marks the 25th anniversary of The 5th Avenue Theatre Association. In 1989 the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre Association established its own resident musical theater company and began producing as well as continuing to present top-quality live musical theater for the cultural enrichment of the Northwest community. The 5th Avenue Theatre maintains a subscription audience of 23,000 and an annual attendance of nearly 300,000. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong and Managing Director Marilynn Sheldon the Theatre continues to preserve and revitalize the great musicals of the past, while fostering the development and production of new musical theater works. Significant productions include the world premiere of the Tony- Award-winning musical Hairspray, as well asacclaimed revivals of Dreamgirls starring Frenchie Davis, A Little Night Music starring Haley Mills and Claire Bloom, Man of La Mancha starring John Cullum, Anything Goes starring Bronson Pinchot and Dee Hoty, Gypsy starring Judy Kaye, and the original productions of Yankee Doodle Dandy, Jekyll & Hyde, Hot Shoe Shuffle and Annie Warbucks. In August 2005, The 5th Avenue produced the new musical comedy Princesses, which is expected to open on Broadway in late 2006.
2005-2006 SEASON SPONSOR: Audi Dealers of the Puget Sound area
SHOW SPONSOR: Puget Sound Energy, The Olympus Apartments in Belltown
Please contact Jennifer Rice, Public Relations Manager, at 206-625-1418 with press questions or to schedule individual interviews.