Anyone who watched the 2006 Tonys saw San Diego's pride and joy, La Jolla Playhouse's "Jersey Boys," sweep the awards. But amidst all the hype about that slick Frankie Valli bio-musical and Oprah's stage adaptation of "The Color Purple," one underrated performance made this viewer sit up in his chair. Though "The Wedding Singer" failed to win any of its five Tony nominations, the performance of its infectious opening number, "It's Your Wedding Day" (click here to view), prompted me to buy a ticket during a trip to New York later that year, where what proved to be a somewhat formulaic but vastly entertaining show awaited.

Justin Jutras, Merritt David Janes and John Jacob Lee

Copyright©2007 Phil Martin

Regrettably, its first national tour opened last summer (in Birmingham, Alabama, of all places) as one of these non-union, bus-and-truck affairs. Consequently, instead of getting the full eight-performance week at the Civic Theatre -- not to mention the marketing -- that it deserves, it has been relegated to a two-performance run at Escondido's California Center for the Arts that most of my theatregoing friends who follow these things were completely unaware of. Too bad, really, because as far as non-union tours go, "The Wedding Singer" (produced by NETworks) is top-notch.

Based on the enormously popular 1998 movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, the musical version of "The Wedding Singer" may have been overshadowed by those Sherry-crazy Boys from Jersey, but what fun it is. The plot more or less follows the movie's: Robbie Hart (played here with easygoing charm by Merritt David Janes) is a wannabe rock star who plays weddings and lives in his grandma's basement in Ridgefield, New Jersey. Fiancée Linda (a deliciously skanky Nikka Wahl) leaves him stranded at the altar. Robbie strikes up a friendship with cute waitress Julia Sullivan (Erin Elizabeth Coors), who is engaged to Glen (Mark Raumaker), an obnoxious DeLorean-driving junk bonds trader.

Nikka Wahl

Copyright©2007 Phil Martin

But none of this is as important as the fact that it's all set in 1985.

Yes, to anyone who remembers Rocky Balboa, Marty McFly, Pac-Man, and New Coke, "The Wedding Singer" will serve as a nostalgic love-letter to the Eighties. Its book, by Tim Herlihy (who wrote the movie's screenplay) and Chad Beguelin, is chock-full of references to the decade, and Matthew Sklar's tuneful score ranges from sugary pop to more hard driving rock with elements of glam and punk thrown in for good measure. Mr. Beguelin's lyrics make the obligatory references to songs like "Careless Whisper" and "Jessie's Girl," but are also frequently clever elsewhere. Julia's Madonna-wannabe cousin Holly (a perky Sarah Peak) sings of her dim, on-again/off-again paramour: "Every time you see his face you get annoyed/And if ignorance is bliss, he's overjoyed."

Sarah Peak

Copyright©2007 Phil Martin

It's a shame that the mindlessly giddy song "Pop!" (and the restaurant scene in which it's set) has been cut from the tour, even necessitating a minor plot change. Glen no longer pops the question to Julia over dinner at a fancy revolving restaurant, but instead over a bulky cellphone from his car on his way to a Knicks game. On their anniversary. A small change, but it tips the character of Glen over the edge of overambitious clod into unforgivable jerk from the start.

But aside from this small excision, this non-union tour (directed by Paul Stancato) surprisingly keeps much of the look and feel of its Gotham incarnation. Choreographer Chris Bailey recreates Rob Ashford's original work, a wacky homage to music videos like "Flashdance" and "Thriller," and the nine-piece band led by Nate Patten sound great playing Irwin Fisch's synth-heavy orchestrations.

Scott Pask's set designs include 1980s shopping malls and banquet halls in all their tackiness, and complement the garish neons and shoulder pads of the costumes (based on Gregory Gale's original designs). Ms. Coors performs the show's finale in requisite white wedding gown, though it's unclear why she's still in what appear to be white tennis shoes -- not a very good look, even for the Eighties.

Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Mr. T, Imelda Marcos, and Tina Turner? Only in Vegas...

Copyright©2007 Phil Martin

The supporting cast also includes Justin Jutras as guitarist Sammy, audience favorite John Jacob Lee as a Boy George wannabe, and Penny Larsen, who is charmingly matter-of-fact but could use a little more spunk as Robbie's grandma Rosie. There's also an extended Vegas scene with a number of celebrity impersonators that elevate the wackiness of it all. That the cast has not been downsized from its Broadway production -- there remain 22 in all -- is certainly commendable, though I wish a program insert or pre-show announcement would have informed the audience of cast changes (one actor listed in the program in a featured dance role, for instance, is currently performing in a production of "Happy Days" in Connecticut!). Such is the price one pays with a non-union tour, as unfortunately there is no guarantee that who you're seeing onstage matches who's in your program.

"The Wedding Singer" may be pure mindless fun. Audiences aren't stupid, though, and deserve better. So, too, do the actors singing and dancing their hearts out on stage, for that matter.

VIEW PROGRAM HERE (PDF)