THEY’RE WITH THE BAND—Nick Bernardi, left, Kyle Caldwell and George Chavez perform a musical number during “The Wedding Singer,” playing now through April 4 at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. For tickets, call (805) 583-7900. One of the most curious choices for a Broadway musical during the 2006 season was “The Wedding Singer,” a trifle of a show that is based on the hit Adam Sandler movie that garnered mostly poor reviews from critics.

Book writer Tim Herlihy pulled the fat out of the fire by turning a predictable, highly derivative story into an entertaining, off-the-wall musical with an attractive score. The musical version, which is being staged at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, was nominated for five Tony awards, which either tells you how accomplished the show is or how hard up Broadway was during that season.

The premise of the plot is simple: boy meets girl, but both are engaged to creeps. Somehow they manage to avoid falling in love until the end, as we knew they would.

The gimmick is that the show takes place in 1985, and the writers subsequently strip mine ’80s popular culture, with references to new technology, songs and politics hitting you over the head at every turn.

All of the characters are deliberately one-dimensional, which gives the audience the freedom to enjoy the kitschy goings-on and broad comedy without worrying about the story. You know how it is going to end after the first five minutes anyway.

The plot involves Robbie (Kyle Caldwell), a rock-star-turned-wedding-singer who falls in love with Julia (Melissa Martinez), a cuddly waitress-next-door. Robbie is engaged to groupie/slut Linda (Jodie O’Donnell Morse) while Julia is due to wed junk bond creep Glen (Nick Newkirk).

Unlike Sandler’s film character, Caldwell’s Robbie (a deadringer for a young David Caruso) is extremely likable; his “Grow Old with You” is better than any of the authentic ’80s ballads featured in the movie. Martinez has a sweet voice and is charming in the role played in the film by Drew Barrymore. The two make a nice, if inevitable, couple.

Robbie’s cohorts are his sidemen: guitarist Sammy from “Joisey” (Nick Bernardi), who likes dressing up like Michael Jackson, and George (George Chavez), a mincing, flamboyantly gay keyboardist who dresses like Boy George.

Chavez steals the show at every turn, although it’s a wonder that these grotesque social stereotypes are still accepted in this day and age.

His best moments come during the bar mitzvah sequence when he chants a Jewish prayer as if it were written by Spandau Ballet and solos on the only authentic ’80s song in the show, Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.”

Morse tramps up the stage in her steamy strip-de-force, “Let Me Come Home,” but is unfortunately absent through most of the show.

Newkirk’s slimeball Glen is more charismatic than repulsive, and he has the best musical moment in the show, the rip-roaring second act opener “All About the Green,” an homage to Wall Street greed that is a virtual musical ripoff of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

Watch for the riotous “Casualty of Love,” a spastic production number featuring Robbie and a table full of social miscreants from one of his more pathetic wedding parties.

All logic is long gone by the time the finale takes place in a Las Vegas quickie-wedding chapel, with ’80s icons like Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol and Mr. T assisting the proceedings. The curtain falls as the two leads are finally united—and Ronald and Nancy Reagan munch on jelly beans.

You don’t have to feel nostalgic for the ’80s to enjoy this show, but it helps.