When you’re invited to the wedding of the year, you can’t help but be tempted to brag about it on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and every other social networking site you can think of. However, sometimes you have to force yourself to log off and try to prevent the aforementioned wedding from becoming an outright disaster.
This is just one of the ideas that is explored in the satirical and slightly campy Fringe Festival production of #WeddingMusical from Toronto’s Bad Dress Productions. Over the course of an hour, the audience learns the story of the bride and groom-to be, Abbie and Ebbie, as well as that of their bizarre but well meaning friends. Within five minutes of the show’s opening, Abbie and Ebbie’s wedding day starts going from bad to worse as flower shipments go missing, seating charts are forgotten, and the all-important wedding ring is accidentally misplaced. All the while, Abbie is determined to stop herself from losing control despite her stepbrother’s insistence on documenting every second of the big day on Instagram and the increasingly neurotic behaviour of her friends.
The four main actors immediately kick off the show with a loud, boisterous musical number about the story of how Abbie and Ebbie came together. Having an explanatory scene precede the musical number would have been beneficial for audience members, as cramming so much important expository information in song form at the beginning of the show was slightly overwhelming. Consequently, I missed some important information about how some of the characters felt about one another and had to try to piece things together myself as the play went on.
The acting and singing ability of all four actors was impressive, especially that of performers Astrid Atherly and Michael Wisniowski, who each had to play two characters. Though both Atherly and Wisniowski underwent quick costume changes to ensure that their character switches were more apparent, the changes that they made in behaviour, speech patterns, and mannerisms were enough to be able to tell each character apart even without the adjustment in appearance. Each actor was given ample time to showcase their talents, but Mandy E. MacLean, who plays Abbie, was not truly given the opportunity to prove what she could do until the last third of the musical despite the fact that she was arguably the performer with the clearest and richest singing voice.
The musical accompaniment by a group of five instrumentalists also gave the performance a much-appreciated extra dose of energy. Violinist Ivana Popovic especially impressed with her smooth-sounding, elegant, and virtually flawless performance.
#WeddingMusical’s dialogue is the show’s biggest weak spot. Jokes that are meant to lighten the mood often fall flat, and the repeated references to “hastags” and “selfies” feels forced and out of place, despite the musical’s title. Despite a lukewarm response from the crowd, however, each actor maintains a high amount of energy throughout the hour and do not give up on trying to earn the undivided attention of the audience.
Though #WeddingMusical revolves around a plot that is somewhat cliché and predictable, the strength of the musical numbers, characters, and performances made the show a fun and uplifting experience.