River City Community Players "Wedding Singer" review by Mhull

A night of wedded bliss

Rating: 5

The Wedding Singer

River City Community Players

I went to "The Wedding Singer" opening weekend in Leavenworth because a friend is part of the show and enjoyed the so much I'm going back with more friends. I was amazed what a great production from the opening number till the end.  Kristin Seefeldt the choreographer did such a great job with all the production numbers and dance was one of the many highlights of the show. The leads Brian Shortess and Vanessa Harper have wonderful voices and acted the roles so well bringing warmth and sincerity to their parts. Other main roles were also portrayed so well there wasn't a boring moment in the entire show. I fell in love with all of them. The full cast sounded so good on all their group singing numbers. The thing that really kept the show going was how there was no delays between scenes the stage crew was incredible in how well they made their changes.  The set was very creative for the show and the size of the stage. I saw this show at an outdoor theatre a couple years ago and even though it was very good I didn't leave the theatre with the same feeling and smile as I did this weekend.

On the down side of the show there was one scene when the actors weren't in light and I didn't realize who was speaking. Sometimes the music was too loud for were I was sitting, which was on the same side as the musicians. I did hear some backstage noise at quite times in the show. I did miss some dialogue here and there because of accents or the microphones weren't working.

I personally didn't find anything that offensive about the show but there were PG-13 signs all over the ticket office warning about a couple curse words and adult situations. I thought that was odd but I guess it is needed for a small community theatre.

I rated the show with a 5 and wrote this not because my friend was involved but because it is truly a entertaining production form start to finish that I am sure I will enjoy again next weekend. It was well worth the drive. There were even a couple times others and I started to applaud in the middle of a musical number because they were just that good. I can't write all of this good stuff with out mentioning the director Eric Van Horn who brought together a wonderful group of talented people.

Mary H.


read the review at KC Stage