Musical Theatre Society (MTS) will be performing “The Wedding Singer” from April 5th to 7th at 7:45 p.m. in Sheehy Theatre, located in the basement of Maltby.
The musical is set in 1985 and revolves around Robbie Hart, a wedding singer who has some mixed feelings about love after he is left at the altar and begins to fall in love with engaged Julia Sullivan, and is directed by senior Public Relations major, Ryan Barlow.
Brody McKenna, a sophomore business management and information systems major, will be playing Robbie Hart. McKenna has been involved in theatre for about six years.
“I have had an amazing time doing this musical so far. We just started rehearsing in Sheehy Theatre these past few days, and it has made it all so real,” McKenna said.
“The musical is about Robbie, a lead singer of a wedding band who is left at the altar and falls in love with Julia, who is engaged to a rich Wall Street playboy kind of character,” McKenna shared.
Mallory Milberger, a junior Public Relations major, will be playing the part of Julia Sullivan.
Milberger said she has been involved in theatre even since elementary school, where they put on little plays in school.
“I fell in love with theatre even before that, when I saw ‘Annie’ at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh,” Milberger said.
“‘The Wedding Singer’ has been quite the ride,” Milberger said. “I am amazed at how fast we put together the show and added new elements. It really was a team effort, and we couldn’t have done it without [the directors] Ryan and AJ.”
Anthony (AJ) Sansonetti is a sophomore theatre major and assistant director, after having done some student directing in the past. Sansonetti has been involved in theatre ever since freshman year of high school.
“‘The Wedding Singer’ is a very light-hearted and funny show. It has a vibe of the 80s which is very appreciated. It’s one of those shows that will make you laugh, cry and feel uncomfortable,” Sansonetti said.
“It has been a roller coaster and a lot of fun. I have worked really well with Ryan and we were able to incorporate new things and elements into the show. We made it interactive for the audience,” Sansonetti said. “One of my favorite things was actually getting to choreograph the ‘sex scene’ of the musical, which was interesting.”
Sam Christou, MTS President and senior music and health care administration double major, is excited for opening day. Christou has been involved in theatre since 9th grade, where she actually went to a performing arts high school. Christou will be part of the stage managing team.
“We were all so excited to do this play since the beginning,” Christou said. “It was really cool to see the growth of the cast and watch them form bonds or even come out of their shell.”
“There are certain scenes that we get pumped up for so I am excited to see how the audience responds on opening day,” Christou said. “One of my personal favorite scenes in when Julia sings to Robbie when he is in the dumpster after ruining a wedding.”
Opening night is Wednesday at 8 p.m. Tickets will be $7 for SRU students and $10 for general admission.
