I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE
Book & Lyrics by Joe DiPietro
Music by Jimmy Rogers
Directed by Kate Alexander
Florida Studio Theatre's Keating Mainstage
1241 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota, 941-355-9000
November 20, 2010 to January 8, 2011
Reviewed by Marie J. Kilker
The first appearance at Florida Studio Theatre ten years
ago of Joe DiPietro's now-international hit failed to thrill me. I thought it a
rather cutesy parade of stereotypes, particularly of women, involved in dating
to marriage
and afterward. Its
current revival at FST, though, is thoroughly likeable, with a perfect cast of
four. They fill the shiny panel-framed stage mostly with fun, sometimes with
pathos, to just the right music from behind the darker back scrim. What's
changed
now? Most important is the
director. Known for her ability to bring out the best in actresses, Kate
Alexander
lives up to that
reputation here. Also as an educator who emphasizes presenting truth in
theatre, she helps the cast find what conforms to reality in the personae they
assume and their situations. After all, most "types" are in part or
sprang from something realistic. So, though surtitles announce the series of
vignettes that comprise the show, we don't need help to recognize some of the
characters in them.
"Always the Bridesmaid"
has sophisticated brunette Stacey
Harris complaining in the latest of many never-to-be-used-again
dresses she abhors, since she assists
at but never stars in myriad weddings. After a game of "Tennis" that
she's again won, diminutive blond Stacey Scotte ponders why this fourth date
with (seemingly agile) Randy Glass' loser hasn't led to romance. "The
Lasagne
Incident" has taller
Gil Brady, with his take-charge look,
as a father joining the others at a dinner where parents expect their
son (Glass) and the gal he's been dating two years to announce their formal
engagement.
When instead he says
they're breaking up, we want to join maternal Scotte in how she handles dinner
and proposed gift. There's an "accelerated" first date that acts out
matters usually delayed, the excitement
of a woman (and surprising others) when a man actually calls as
promised, a movie date that the guy didn't realize would be for a chick flick,
an anguished
preparation for
infrequent sex by a married couple with kids. For "The Family That Drives
Together" the four cleverly simulate a rocky ride in well coordinated
office chairs. In a late segment, there's a newly divorced woman (Harris, with
tears in her eyes) making a computer dating video. But romance blossoms afresh
for an elderly widow and widower who meet at a funeral.
Seemingly without stress, the performers execute DJ
Gray's simple choreography and assume different roles quickly. Ditto for
changes of Sara Hinkley's well designed costumes. The technical staff makes the
scene shifts look easy, despite the number of required moves of props. Music
Director is John Franceschina. Bob Phillips is responsible for the set; David
Upton, lighting; Eric Stahlhammer. The production, with a l5 minute
intermission, lasts 2 hours, 20 minutes.
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