Viv Hardwick finds that The Wedding Singer star Jon Robyns was actually banned from singing at his own wedding

FOR those who think that the stage adaptation of The Wedding Singer is taking its opening vows at Sunderland Empire next week there was a previous musical version of the 1998 film which had a small tour in 2008.

Then it was “friend of Robbie Williams” Jonathan Wilkes in the role of unlucky in love Robbie Hart, which toured to Newcastle. Now it’s West End star of Avenue Q, Les Miserables and Legally Blonde Jon Robyns who is taking on the role first played by Adam Sandler.

“It’s been nearly ten years since that original show and I think that audiences are ready for a return,” says Manchester-born Robyns, who admits that his path to leading man includes a spell as a wedding singer.

“When I was at school, and about 16, I was in a band which did songs from The Commitments and The Blues Brothers and bits and pieces of The Beatles. We did a couple of weddings when I was growing up in Bristol and I’ve always thought they were fun engagements. I’m not sure if that information helped me get this gig or not, but I like the fact that I’ve had first-hand experience,” he adds.

Dad dancing, over-imbibed grown-ups and the usual family rivalries will all be represented on stage at some point, Robyns says.

“I have had to come up with an American accent because my character comes from New Jersey, but I have worked with that a lot in the past because this kind of musical is an American invention. Most of the world is saturated with American culture, so it’s easy to find points of reference,” he says.

“The New Jersey accent isn’t the most attractive in life, but I’ve watched a lot of The Sopranos and Robbie comes from a small working class community where everyone knows everyone. So, it’s got that lovely small-town feel to it.”

At the heart of this boy-meets-girl show – with the added complication that Wedding Singer Robbie is dumped at the altar and then falls for a bride-to-be – are a bunch of clever 1980s songs which portray its 1985 setting. “It is a great fun production and the script really is full of one-liners and snappy dialogue. Although I’ve done heavier musicals like Les Mis for two-and-half-years, Miss Saigon and Rent, it was Avenue Q which showed that well-written shows like The Wedding Singer have a lot of heart in them. I know that’s something of a cliché to say, but it’s true. When you come out on stage there is an awful lot of warm, happy feeling in evidence and the reason that people go to theatre,” he says.

And did Robyns sing at his own wedding? “I didn’t. I’ve been very happily married for seven-and-a-half years and my wife actually banned me from singing. She said, ‘I do not want the West End wedding that everyone thinks we are going to have’. So we had some wonderful friends singing instead including Giles Terera (from Avenue Q) and it was quite low-key. No, I had no desire to sing one of my big love ballads. It was that busman’s holiday thing,” Robyns says.

The Wedding Singer has a massive tour list after Sunderland and the performer feels his decade of experience, which includes tours of Spamalot and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, will now prove useful.

“Similarly to a wedding, going to a theatre can be a once-in-a-while experience for the audience. Some people book months in advance and really look forward to going and there is that amount of pressure. I never think about it as a pressurised environment and if we are there to have fun, then everyone is on the same wavelength,” he says.

Robyns hasn’t got as far as considering The Wedding Singer finally reaching the West End, but prefers the idea of a London run because he has a young family.

“It’s somewhat beggars can’t be choosers. When you’re offered a show and you feel it’s the right opportunity then this is like any job offer in that respect. Part of the appeal was that Ray Quinn is in the cast, and he brings a lot of experience to the baddie role of Glen,” he says.

Ruth Madoc, forever famous for TV’s Hi-de-Hi, plays Robbie’s grandmother who sees that bride Julia (X Factor finalist Cassie Compton) is right for Robbie and not boyfriend Glen.

“Ruth is absolutely wonderful and one of these characters from British TV history that kind of get burned into your brain. But, she went to Rada and worked with Richard Burton and has done all these artistically worthy things. I’m not saying that Hi-Di-Hi is not, but it’s also not the serious side of entertainment. Ruth has an innate and incredible sense of timing and really understands the mechanics of a script and how to dissect a character and make them as three-dimensional as they can possibly be. I hope that I also take something away from every job and I always hope that I never stop learning,” says Robyns.

He’s aware that he has to give every piece of focus to The Wedding Singer until the show is up and running and regards the original film as one of Adam Sandler’s less cartoon roles. “A lot of his films turn him into a cartoon character and that’s where his career and style is. If you watch The Wedding Singer movie his role is very under-played and a lot isn’t clowned, while things like The Water Boy is a clown-type character. A lot of the movie script has moved across to the stage show and we are really lucky to have such a backbone,” he says.

The Wedding Singer, Sunderland Empire, Tuesday, February 21 to Saturday, February 25. Box Office: 0844-871-3022 or atgtickets.com/sunderland