A real County Durham wedding singer is set to make his debut in the stage version of the 1998 box office hit film The Wedding Singer.

Gary Hoyle, a wedding singer and a member of a Take That cover band will take his real job to the stage as he will play the lead role in The Wedding Singer stage show at Park View Theatre in Chester-le-Street this September.

Playing the lead role of Robbie, Gary will channel his theatre experience alongside his job as a wedding singer to take on the role made famous by Adam Sandler.

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Ahead of the first performance on September 20, Gary has expressed his joy at being able to play the lead role – as he proves that life truly does imitate art.

He said: “Years of singing for real-life weddings has given me great experience for this role!

“I’m used to performing for a wedding crowd, and I’ve done so much theatre too, so this role is perfect for me.”

Alongside wedding singing, Gary has been a regular member of the County Durham Theatre Group YC Durham for 24 years.

The group has been highly successful and has performance credits at the Gala Theatre Durham, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Royal National Theatre.

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Gary has also had the same levels of success and has played roles in smash musicals for the company including We Will Rock You and Chicago, which won an award for the best local theatre production in 2022.

Now, he will channel 80’s style and suave for The Wedding Singer as Robbie, who meets a young waitress called Julia and falls in love whilst working in one of the most romantic jobs in the world.

To get tickets for the show, click here.