By Emily Duncan, Staff Writer
“The Wedding Singer” cast members perform during dress rehearsal April 14 in Kirkpatrick Auditorium in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. Characters included impersonators. Photo: Amanda Alfanos/ The Campus
A musical that is literally a blast from the past is in the works. From break dancing, to quotes from 80s songs, sweat bands, big hair, and acid washed denim jeans “The Wedding Singer” is full of ‘80s culture.
A production of students from the Wanda L. Bass School of Music this musical was made into a staged performance after the movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore first experienced success.
The plot follows the main character, Robbie, a wedding singer who meets an engaged waitress with who he discovers a compatible relationship.
Director Paula Sloan, said the musical is a “timeless story.”
“It’s about falling in love and finding the right person,” she said. “It’s just set in the 80s.”
Audience members can expect a fun filled night with catchy music, Sloan said.
“The story is easy to follow, and there’s lots of good choreography restoring the ‘80s to the stage,” she said.
The show will be performed 8 p.m. April 15 and 16 and 2 p.m. April 17 in the Kirkpatrick Auditorium in the Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. Tickets range from $12, $18, $25 and can be purchased by calling the ticket office at 405-208-5227.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Chelsea Owen, music theater sophomore, said she always has wanted a pair of jeans with paint on them. Being what her Stage Craft Lab teacher describes as a “student who takes initiative,” her paint-splattered jeans are proof of the enthusiasm she emanates while at work in the scene shop.
With a drill, saw, or paintbrush in hand, she’s not intimidated, but rather at home in the scene shop, ready to delve into any task put in front of her.
During the past four weeks, Owen is one of about 50 scene shop lab and work study students who have been working collaboratively on the set for the musical production of “The Wedding Singer.”
Deb Hicks, scenic paint charge and designer, spearheaded the set design.
The set is intricate because there are a lot of different pieces students had to design and build with more than a dozen individual rolling units, Hicks said.
The reason for so many set pieces is because the musical was built off the movie, making it unique and putting this musical in a category all by itself, she said.
“The writers had to decide what the highpoints of the movie were and translate these from the musical script,” she said. “It’s still challenging because there are 14 different places the characters go to.”
Creative interpretation is one of Deb’s responsibilities. The script only gives vague description of what each scene looks like- the other design elements being up to Hick’s discretion.
One advantage Hicks said she had when designing the set is that she lived through the ‘80s.
“I understand what is meant when the script tell me to design a ‘touch of class banquet hall, 1985, New Jersey,” she said.
“I don’t have to research it. I lived it. They want it to be fancy, but a little on the wacky side.”
My only challenge with this was figuring out what kind of set pieces I needed to use to represent this, that I could use later in the play because of the space limitations, she said.
One set piece that “screams” ‘80s that Owen helped put the finishing touches on is the three-stalled pink tiled and Formica bathroom on wheels.
To get the Formica technique Owen said she used a feather duster.
“It appears all pink, but it gives it a textured look to help it look different from the audience,” she said. “It’s the girliest bathroom I’ve ever seen.”
Another scene that manifests the ‘80s vibe is the night club scene.
“It’s going to have that ‘Flashdance’ vibe with that industrial look,” Hicks said. “Every club that you went into the walls were all painted dark, the ceilings were black and there was lots of light and steel.”
See a preview of “If I Told You” from KSBI.
[…] Download Image More @ mediaocu.com […]