ST. JACOBS – Audiences have been saying “I DO!” to a bridal suite spectacle that is equal parts riotous comedy and touching love story with Perfect Wedding, Drayton Entertainment officials state.
“This laugh-out-loud matrimonial farce has audiences rolling in the aisles at the intimate St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre where it is playing until Aug. 27,” states a press release from the theatre company.
“Perfect Wedding is a side-splitting play with a cast that belongs together, and audiences love them,” said Drayton Entertainment artistic director Alex Mustakas.
The British farce opened on July 19.
Perfect Wedding begins as a groom wakes up with a hangover on the morning of his wedding day. He turns to the woman in bed beside him and has no recollection of her at all, but he does recall that his fiancée is about to arrive at any moment. During the ensuing panic to get the stranger dressed and out of the way, the bride arrives, the other woman is trapped in the bathroom, and the big day far from a piece of cake.
Director Wade Lynch officiated the production, having previously directed A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline and Look, No Hans! for Drayton Entertainment. He is joined by set sesigner Jeff JohnstonCollins, costume designer Jennifer Wonnacott, lighting designer Lyle Franklin, stage manager Paula Stewart, and apprentice stage manager Lauren Roth.
The play’s wedding party and hotel staff include a f cast that keeps the occasion moving at a break-neck pace.
Tyler Check plays the bewildered groom. Check recently played the title role of Buddy Holly in this season’s production of Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story.
Emma Rudy plays Judy, the woman Bill wakes up next to on the morning of his wedding. Rudy appeared as Rosabella in Drayton Entertainment’s Sleeping Beauty: The Panto.
Rebecca Gibian is Rachel, the always-in-command bride. Making her Drayton Entertainment debut, Gibian has appeared in The Madness of George III, Dracula, and Our Town with the Shaw Festival.
Justin Bott is the not-so-dependable best man Bott draws on his previous over-the-top panto roles including Widow Twaddle in Jack and the Beanstalk and step-sister Revolta in Cinderella, to bring the character to life.
Gabi Epstein plays Julie, the chambermaid who is caught in a web of lies. Epstein appeared in Drayton Entertainment’s Blood Brothers, and Sound of Music.
Mary Harvey brings a matronly caring presence to the day as the bride’s mother. Harvey has performed at the Segal Centre and Centaur Theatre in Montreal, the Lighthouse Festival, and has voiced many characters for video games, various documentaries, and the Canada 150 video installation in Ottawa. This is her Drayton Entertainment debut.
Perfect Wedding was written by British playwright Robin Hawdon, whose comedies have been produced at London’s Apollo Theatre, West End, on Broadway and in over 40 countries.
Perfect Wedding is on stage at the St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre through Aug. 27.
Regular performance tickets are $55 for adults, $34 for youth under 20 years of age. Tickets for select discount dates and groups of 20 or more are $45, and small groups of 10-19 are $50. HST is applicable to all ticket prices. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Box Office at 519-747-7788 or toll free at 1-855-drayton (372-9866), or online instantly at draytonentertainment.com.
