CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, Zack Phillips’s name and year were misstated due to an editing error. Phillips is a freshman. 

The stage was set for a concert straight from the Reagan administration.

When Robbie Hart started rocking out with his wedding band, the audience soon realized this wasn’t your standard musical. Neon lights flashed, dancers in taffeta dresses flew through the air and electric guitars riffed power chords.

As the opening song neared its end, Hart assumed power stance, solidifying the electricity that the remainder of the performance would need to live up to.

The First Year Players’ production of “The Wedding Singer,” the musical adaptation of Adam Sandler’s cult hit movie, opened on Thursday for its three-night run. With one of the most talented casts in FYP’s recent history, the show certainly had all the right elements to secure an extraordinary night at the theater. Inconsistency, however, played a part in hindering the young cast from fully achieving heights that were just at arms reach.

“The Wedding Singer” tells the story of Robbie, the leader of a wedding band in mid-1980s New Jersey who loses himself after being jilted at the alter by his fiance. He finds solace in Julia, a waitress who he befriends and who helps him get back on his feet.

It becomes clear that the two are meant for one another, but Julia’s greedy Wall Street investor fiance Glenn, as well as other roadblocks, stand in their way. With the help of his band mates and his grandma, Robbie ponders: Does true love prevail over the things in life we only think matter?

While enjoying a short-lived but hugely adored Broadway run in 2006, “The Wedding Singer” went on to be nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The beauty of a student-run theater organization like FYP is the sense of community it fosters for its new members each year, as well as the one it maintains for its alumni throughout their time at Syracuse University.

The show’s director, junior television, radio and film major Bryce Garcia, remembers his turn on the stage in 2011’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” “like it was yesterday.” Now, as the chief visionary for this year’s incarnation, he said he’s delighted at the chance to work with the new class.

“It’s been so great bringing these talented freshmen into the family,” Garcia said.

Putting on a comedy like “The Wedding Singer” that leans toward the lighter side of the musical theater repertoire seems like the easier route to take. However, Garcia claims the show is deceivingly complex, underrated among many of the other musicals considered for this year’s production.

“It’s fun, but very technical at the same time,” Garcia said, referring to the complex rock-show staging and music required of each performance.

Such is where the production met occasional hiccups. The hidden difficulties behind “The Wedding Singer’s” approachable facade, including numbers that suffered from being overworked, kept FYP’s performance from being excellent.

In particular, the second act’s top number, “All About the Green,” a song proclaiming greed and all that defined the 1980s, had its hand in too many visually appealing tactics, forcing it to look sloppy.

As with any opening night, technical difficulties with microphones had their way with the young cast. Despite these set backs, the actors maintained utter professionalism, never wavering in their performances.

Shining brightest of all was leading man Zack Phillips, a freshman television, radio and film major, whose charm, seemingly endless vocal talent and sympathetic qualities radiated from the stage in his performance as Robbie.

While needing the show’s first number to ease into the role, he found his footing and proved unstoppable until the very end. Phillips’ varied ability helped to perfectly execute “Casualty of Love,” Robbie’s bitter hate-letter to love after losing his own. He showed vulnerability in a moment of weakness without making Robbie a whiny, unlikeable character.

Shanice Bland, a television, radio and film major, steals scenes as Linda, Robbie’s ex-fiance who re-enters the picture at an inconvenient moment in the musical’s plot. During her moment in the spotlight, “Let Me Come Home,” Bland shows off her intense voice and dance moves, overshadowing many of her cast mates with more face time.

Was FYP’s “The Wedding Singer” perfect? No. But perfection means little in comparison to the sheer joy visible on the cast members’ faces. They truly loved what they were doing.

And the audience loved it, too.

Published on April 8, 2013 at 1:26 am

Contact Noah: nbsilver@syr.edu