Local talent take on ‘The Wedding Singer’

State College Community Theatre will present “The Wedding Singer” at The State Theatre over Valentine’s Day weekend.

Director Philip Vonada said that the live production is very similar to the 1990s Adam Sandler movie of the same name.

“We have all the same characters, they’re all just a little different,” Vonada said. “In the movie, for example, Rosie is a random woman that Robbie is giving music lessons to; in the musical version, she is his grandmother. But, the book is pretty much the same. The script is taken scene for scene from the movie, and it’s adapted by the same guy who wrote the film. He adapted it himself and added music.”

The music features songs that pay homage to the ’80s.

“It’s got a little bit of synthesizer, a little bit of rap, and a little bit of glam rock all coming together,” Vonada said.

Vonada, who is also SCCT’s box office manager, leapt at the chance to helm the adaptation.

“I worked with SCCT on and off for eight years now, almost nine,” he said. “I’ve been interested in directing, and I fell in love with ‘The Wedding Singer’ when I first saw the movie back in the late ’90s. And, when it was turned into a musical, I got really into the music from it but hadn’t actually seen the show. So, when I found out we were doing it, I immediately wanted to make sure I got to work on it. If there was going to be one show this year I could work on, I wanted this to be the one. I’m very thankful for the SCCT board of directors and everyone else in the organization for giving me this opportunity.”

The cast is led by two newcomers to SCCT — Penn State engineering grad student Mark Bolden plays Robbie and Penn State law student Kelsey Kobil plays Julia — but longtime fans will recognize plenty of SCCT staples.

“We have a lot of SCCT familiar faces,” Vonada said. “Margaret Higgins is Rosie the rapping grandmother. This is probably her 10th year with the organization.”

State College Community Theatre has been a Happy Valley tradition for more than six decades.

“This is our 61st year as a theater company here in the Centre Region,” Vonada said. “We’re the longest running theater organization in town, and it’s very cool to be a part of that legacy while seeing a new era of performers coming through.”

While the original movie was based on a wedding singer (go figure), it was not a musical and only featured two or three original songs. The few songs that were in the original film have all made it into the stage show.

“The one song everyone remembers from the movie, ‘Grow Old with Me,’ is indeed in the musical,” Vonada said. “ ‘Somebody Kill Me’ is in there too and so is ‘Grandma’s Rap.’ ”

Unfortunately, Billy Idol, who played a key cameo role in the film version of “The Wedding Singer,” will most likely not be making an appearance.

“Billy Idol himself will not be at the show,” Vonad said, “But, we do have a Billy Idol impersonator in the show. I might send Mr. Idol an invitation to see if he’ll come.”

Tickets are available at the box office or online. The show opens Thursday night and continues through Valentine’s Day.

“Our show is over Valentine’s Day weekend, and it’s a very iconic movie that I think a lot of people associate with the ’90s and then associate back to the ’80s,” Vonada said. “For a lot of people in the region, it’s going to be a fun trip down memory lane and a really fun date night. It’s great to come out and support all of our local theater organizations in the area, but this one is going to be an especially fun trip for people.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Local talent take on ‘The Wedding Singer’."