Grant Alexander Brown and ensemble members in "The Wedding Singer" at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre -- July 21 through 31.

Thursday, July 21, through Sunday, July 31

Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, 311 Riverview Drive, Clinton IA

Nominated for five 2006 Tony Awards including Best Musical and described as a “fizzy confection” by Variety magazine, the musical version of Adam Sandler's film-comedy smash The Wedding Singer will entertain Clinton Area Showboat Theatre audiences from July 21 through 31, with composer Matthew Sklar and lyricist Chad Beguelin praised by New York Theatre Guide for their 1980s salute's “truly clever and often hilarious score.”

It's 1985 as The Wedding Singer opens, and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart – who still lives in his grandmother's basement – is New Jersey's favorite wedding singer and the life of every party … until his fiancée Linda leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie is so distraught that proceeds to make every wedding reception as disastrous as his own. When he meets an admiring young waitress named Julia, however, Robbie falls madly in love. The only trouble is that Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of the decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. With a score that pays loving homage to the pop songs of the 1980s, The Wedding Singer takes audiences back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a Jersey wedding singer might just have been the coolest guy in the room.

Following his smash-hit Showboat production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's State Fair, the company's producing artistic director James Beaudry directs The Wedding Singer, with Sister Act choreographer Daniel Gold returning to stage the musical's dance numbers. Says Beaudry of the show, “The Wedding Singer is one of the best musicals of the last 20 years – updating the Romeo and Juliet story to the 'I Want My MTV' world of 1985 New Jersey – with a thrilling and hilarious happy ending. The show is pure joy, and this production explodes off the stage with talent from our amazing cast and design team.”

Robbie Hart is played by Showboat veteran Grant Alexander Brown and Julia by Sydney Jaye, with additionally beloved Wedding Singer characters portrayed by Sarah Juliet Shaw (Holly), Anthony James (Sammy), Benjamin Michael Hall (George), Noah Wohlsen (Glen), Katelyn Murphy (Linda), Lisa Crosby Wipperling (Angie), and area favorite Nancy Teerlinck (Robbie’s rapping grandma Rosie). Other members of the gifted ensemble include Hannah Asay, Tiffany Beckford, Jordan Drake, Kiara Durbin, Jaheim Hugan, Carter Jargo, Sarah Lewandowski, Megan Grace Ludwig, Dan Rice, Brian Selcik, and Hannah Zieser. And with J. Kathleen Castellanos serving as the production's music director, Beaudry's design team includes Mollie Abkes, Montana Carlson, Sterling Oliver, Dylan Dutro, and Brian Seckfort, with Patrick Lee Johnson and Teghan Reed the stage managers for the musical's run.

The Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's The Wedding Singer runs July 21 through 31, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays and Wednesday at 3 p.m. Admission is $18-25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)242-6760 and visiting ClintonShowboat.org.

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