By Jeanni Ritchie
I often joke that I should be holding a sign on a street corner that says WILL WORK FOR THEATRE TICKETS!
More than half of my travel assignments are built around a show (Hamilton, NOLA Girlfriend Getaway) and I once I drove 7 hours to San Antonio just to see the touring Broadway production of Pretty Woman before coming back home. I love theatre!!
When I found out The Wedding Singer would be on stage in Conroe, Texas the week I was in Houston, I knew I had to go. I’d heard A Note to Linda at the NSU Theatre’s New Faces review and knew immediately what musical it was from. I’d wanted to see this show since its Broadway debut in 2006 but hadn’t had a chance. Now was the time!
I checked in to my room at the Margaritaville Lake Conroe Resort and then headed back to downtown Conroe, a beautiful area that reminded me of another one of my favorite movies, Back to the Future! I looked around expecting Doc Brown and Marty McFly to be hooking up a cable to a lightning rod!
I arrived at the historic Crighton Theatre about 15 minutes before curtain. The interior architecture reminded me of a mini-Saenger. The chairs donned the names of patrons in both memoriam and honorarium. There’s something special about sitting in a seat dedicated to someone who loved theatre as much as you did.
The Crighton Theatre recently celebrated its 90th birthday, the Conroe treasure having been built in 1934. It is the home base for performances offered by Stage-Right Productions and Christian Youth Theatre, and also holds various music concerts and shows throughout the year.
It was Stage Right Productions that produced The Wedding Singer, directed by Cricket Pepper. The show follows the Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore movie script fairly closely with a few character changes and a lot of music and dance numbers!
The musical revolves around Robbie (Robben Montez), a wedding singer, his failed relationship with his former fiancée Linda (Mandy Hall), and his romance with a new love, Julia (Gracie Lara).
Julia’s cousin Holly (Lauren Mulacek) was a versatile Judy Greer, lighting up the stage in all her scenes. And stealing the stage- and all of Act 2- was band member George (Colton Land) and Grandma Rosie (Amanda Carlton) in Move That Thing. Remember that hip hop granny scene in the movie? The stage version kicks that up a notch, throws in audience favorite George, and delivers a memorable scene that had audiences laughing long after the last note.
Next up for Stage Right of Texas is A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,
Sept. 5-21, 2025. For more about Stage Right Productions, visit stage-right.org.
Crighton Theatre is located at 234 North Main Street, Conroe, Texas.
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist whose love of theatre has her currently searching ways to see London’s premiere of The Devil Wears Prada musical! She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
