Following standing ovations, widespread acclaim and extended seasons in Adelaide and Melbourne, the Australian professional premiere of the hilarious hit Broadway musical The Wedding Singer, will now open to Queensland audiences on 18 June at the Gold Coast’s Home of the Arts (HOTA).
Final seats have just been released for the Gold Coast season that must close on 26 June, be sure to buy your tickets before the best seats in the house are gone!
The national tour will then make its final stop in Sydney from 1 July. Tickets to the State Theatre season are already selling with the strength of an ’80s power ballad: get in quick!
The Wedding Singer performer and Gold Coast local Max Patterson returns to perform for his home town, after touring to the West End and across the US.
Max is throwing stardust like Ziggy, excitedly readying his David Bowie impersonator costume for his return to HOTA, the very stage where he grew up performing his end of year dance concerts. His early training was at Paradise Performers Academy in Mermaid Beach, under the direction of Todd McKenney’s mother Peta McKenney.
“After everything that was #2020, it is really special to be able to return to the Gold Coast to perform a show of this calibre for all my family and friends. Plus, I’m pretty sure that The Wedding Singer has more sequins than all of my dance school concerts combined – they won’t know what’s hit them!” says Max.
Brisbane local and The Wedding Singer’s Dance Captain Romy Vuksan, recovered from a tumultuous battle with COVID last year (caught while on a TV show that won’t be named), just in time to take on what might be the most demanding role in the whole production. She was still ill when she first auditioned for The Wedding Singer, but thankfully fully recovered during rehearsals.
Romy grew up in Brisbane and started dancing at the age of 2 before moving to Melbourne in 2013 on a scholarship to Jason Coleman’s Ministry of Dance. She has a slew of big shows under her belt including Dirty Dancing, West Side Story and Legally Blonde.
The critically-acclaimed lead cast of The Wedding Singer includes Kinky Boots star Teagan Wouters as Julia, the role Drew Barrymore made famous, starring alongside Christian Charisiou in his big break in the title role of jilted-groom and nice guy Robbie Hart. One of the original Jersey Boys Stephen Mahy (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Saturday Night Fever, Mamma Mia!) personifies Wall Street poster boy Glen Guglia, Nadia Komazec brings all of the cheeky laughs as the rebellious Holly, Ed Deganos (The Lion King) plays the iconic George and celebrated character performer Susan-ann Walker thrills as Robbie’s naughty beat-boxing Grandma Rosie. Rounding out the cast is true triple threat Kirby Burgess (Barnum, Dirty Dancing) wowing as Robbie’s villainous ex-girlfriend Linda, joined by dynamite talent Hollie James (Shrek the Musical, Rocky Horror Show) as Angie, and Haydan Hawkins (Miss Saigon, Into The Woods) as Sammy.
The Tony nominated musical is directed by Multi-Green Room Award nominated director Alister Smith, with an incredible original soundtrack brought to life by Musical Director Daniel Puckey (Muriel’s Wedding The Musical, The Book of Mormon, The Wizard of Oz, The Bodyguard Musical, The Lion King).
Following on from a Green Room Award for his work on Bring It On: The Musical, choreographer Michael Ralph (Georgy Girl, The Boy From Oz) brings explosive dance routines jam-packed with countless iconic 80s references.
COVID Safe measures will be in place for all performances, as per government regulations. More information is available via the websites for each venue.
