Uproarious British Farce Opens at the St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre
July 27, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Audiences have been saying “I DO!” to a bridal suite spectacle that is equal parts riotous comedy and touching love story with Perfect Wedding. This laugh-out-loud matrimonial farce has audiences rolling in the aisles at the intimate St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre where it is playing until August 27.
“Perfect Wedding is a side-splitting play with a cast that belongs together, and audiences love them,” says Alex Mustakas, Artistic Director of Drayton Entertainment. “Patrons have been leaving the theatre with huge smiles and warm hearts.”
The British farce has had audiences rolling in the aisles since the play opened on its “big day”, on July 19. Perfect Wedding will be heating things up all summer long. The matrimonial chaos and hilarity are everything you would expect from the fun-filled hit from across the pond, and the intimate setting of the historic theatre provides the audience an intimate look at the anarchic action on stage.
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 Designer 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 fabulous cast that keeps the occasion moving at a break-neck pace.
Tyler Check dazzles as Bill, the bewildered Groom. Check recently played the title role of Buddy Holly in this season’s production of Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story. Other Drayton Entertainment appearances include Carl Perkins in Million Dollar Quartet, and Doug Alward in Marathon of Hope.
Emma Rudy wows as 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. Elsewhere, Emma has appeared as Marty in Grease at the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto, in multiple productions at the Capitol Theatre New Brunswick, and in the role of Anne in Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival.
Rebecca Gibian brings grace and beauty to 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, Clean Slate with Talisman Theatre, and recently appeared in Paradise Lost at Centaur Theatre in Montreal.
Justin Bott is the perfect not-so-dependable Best Man Tom. Bott draws on his previous over-the-top panto roles including Widow Twaddle in Jack and the Beanstalk, stepsister Revolta in Cinderella, evil sorcerer Abanazza in Aladdin, and Nurse Tickle in Snow White to bring Tom to life. He most recently appeared as Auntie Em in Drayton Entertainment’s Wizard of Oz: The Panto.
Gabi Epstein hits comedic gold as Julie, the Chambermaid who is caught in a web of lies. Epstein appeared in Drayton Entertainment’s Blood Brothers, Perfect Wedding and Sound of Music. Elsewhere, she appeared in Little Shop of Horrors and Billy Elliot at the Stratford Festival and was nominated for a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance in To Life with the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company.
Mary Harvey brings a matronly caring presence to the day as the Bride’s mother, Daphne. 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 wide-ranging and successful career spans over three decades. As a playwright, his comedies have been produced at London’s Apollo Theatre, West End, on Broadway, and in over 40 countries.
Perfect Wedding is proudly sponsored by Home Hardware. The Media Sponsors are City News 570, 106.7 Country, 96.7 CHYM, Zoomer Radio, and the Waterloo Region Record. The Season Media Sponsor is CTV.
Perfect Wedding is on stage at the St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre through August 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 www.draytonentertainment.com.
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For more information, please contact:
Samareh Jones, Marketing and Development Associate
(519) 621-5511 ext. 256
samareh@draytonentertainment.com