Party time with The Wedding Singer in Southampton

Step back in time and get ready for the biggest party in town as a sparkling new production of The Wedding Singer plays Southampton's Mayflower Theatre from April 4-8.
The Wedding Singer UK Tour - Ray Quinn as Glen and Roxanne Pallett as Holly - credit Darren BellThe Wedding Singer UK Tour - Ray Quinn as Glen and Roxanne Pallett as Holly - credit Darren Bell
The Wedding Singer UK Tour - Ray Quinn as Glen and Roxanne Pallett as Holly - credit Darren Bell

It’s 1985. Hair is huge, greed is good and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey's favourite wedding singer. When his own fiancée dumps him at the altar, Robbie sets out to make every wedding as disastrous as his own.

Can sweet-natured Julia and her best friend Holly lure Robbie out of the dumpster and back into the limelight? Or is he going to see her head off down the aisle with Wall Street bad boy Glen. Only Grandma Rosie seems to be able to see that Robbie and Julia are the couple that are meant to be…

Playing Glen is Ray Quinn, and he is having a ball.

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“The show stands on its own even if you have not watched the film. It’s great. It’s a musical. It is full on. It is a bit cheesy and it has got a great cast. We have been touring since for a while now, since February, and we have been getting a great response. People really seem to be enjoying it.

“I play Glen who is the Wolf of Wall Street kind of guy. He is basically your typical arrogant money-making kind of guy. He just doesn’t care. He is a very strong character. He just knows exactly what he wants and when he is going to get it. But I play him in such a way that you do warm to him. I want people to end up having a bit of a soft spot for him. He doesn’t come out on top, but he is still a vital part of the show.”

Ray shot to fame as the runner-up in ITV1’s The X Factor in 2006 and as champion of Dancing on Ice in 2009. In 2014 he won Dancing on Ice: Champion of Champions. His theatre credits include Danny Zuko in Grease (West End), Dirty Dancing (West End) and Legally Blonde (UK tour).

“It has been great. Musical theatre has been a natural progression for me from music. The very natural next step. But X Factor changed everything for me. I was doing pubs and clubs and bars, and then I started on this massive journey. I look back on it very fondly.”

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West End and musical theatre star Jon Robyns plays Robbie Hart. Most recently he starred in Legally Blonde as Emmett Forrest, other theatre credits include Enjolras in Les Misérables, Spamalot, Memphis and Avenue Q.

He is joined by West End leading lady and X Factor finalist Cassie Compton as Julia; her roles include Sabrina in American Psycho (Almeida, London) and Eponine in Les Misérables. Playing best friend Holly, Roxanne Pallett is perhaps best known for her long-standing role as Jo in ITV’s Emmerdale. She has also appeared in Waterloo Road and Casualty on screen and in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Vagina Monologues and John Godber’s On The Piste on stage.

Comedy veteran Ruth Madoc joins the company as Grandma Rosie. Ruth became a household name in the Eighties when she played Gladys Pugh in BBC comedy series Hi-De-Hi! More recently we’ve seen her on screen in ITV’s Benidorm, Mount Pleasant (Sky) and Stella (Sky). Samuel Holmes (Mrs Henderson Presents, West End) will play George.

Tickets on 02380 711811 or online at mayflower.org.uk.

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