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NEW YORK -- Remember the hit single that featured the line "Money for nothing and chicks for free"?
How about the TV commercial that asked, "Where's the beef?" And if you were stuck in some B-celebrity wax museum, could you identify Billy Idol, Mr. T and Imelda Marcos?
If you answered no to one or more of the preceding questions, don't bother reading the rest of this review. Because The Wedding Singer (** 1/2 out of four), the new musical adaptation of the film, trades on 1980s nostalgia with a ferocity that would put a VH1 marketing executive to shame.
Singer, which opened Thursday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, belongs to a modern sub-genre of musical comedy that includes other film-based shows, from the ridiculous Urban Cowboy to the almost-sublime Spamalot, in addition to that mother of all jukebox joints, Mamma Mia! Such efforts share a feel-good quotient that lies not only in their blithe superficiality, but also in the way they make us feel clever for merely recognizing the familiar.
In fairness, Singer has more heart and a better sense of humor about itself than some of its similarly wacky, winking peers. That self-effacing quality helps rescue its libretto, by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy, from too many references to banal celebrities and bad sitcoms.
Singer also has a winning young cast. I'll admit that the schizoid-goofball appeal of Adam Sandler, who played the title role in the movie, has always been lost on me. Standup comedian/musician Stephen Lynch brings a more life-sized humanity to the role of lovelorn crooner Robbie, as well as a throaty belt that may remind you, fittingly enough, of Jon Bon Jovi.
As Robbie's love interest, Julia, Laura Benanti fills screen star Drew Barrymore's shoes with her own girl-next-door charm. The period-inspired pop tunes provided by composer Matthew Sklar aren't ideal showcases for Benanti's gleaming soprano, but her playful sweetness is a constant delight.
Amy Spanger and Felicia Finley amuse respectively as Julia's flirtatious cousin and Robbie's really flirtatious ex, who is featured in several sequences as a classic early-MTV vamp, complete with a wind machine. Rita Gardner lends equally game support in the stock role of hipster grandma.
Costumer Gregory Gale and hair designer David Brian Brown contribute some of the tackiest 'dos and don'ts I've seen since my sweet 16 party.
I actually attended The Wedding Singer with an old high school friend, which is the ideal way to see it -- provided you went to high school in the '80s.
If you weren't around back then, I suppose you could use your imagination. That was once, I seem to recall, part of the point of seeing a show.
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