"Love
is Love"
brings us to that most intimate and lyrical of theatrical styles, the small-scale
musical revue, where text and music and performers simply tell stories: of
distinctive individuals, of familiar situations, of universal experience. Martin
Charnin has
assembled a satisfying variety of expertly crafted songs and monologues
exploring the diverse qualities and circumstances of love. He's put together a
terrific cast of talented women who can sing and dance and act, and most
importantly, who can make the stories feel personal and authentic. The show
still needs a little cutting, and the second act loses some momentum, but the
intelligence and integrity of the material and the performances make for an
intelligent and frequently moving entertainment.
The
composer and lyricist Richard Gray carries the lion's share of the songwriting in this show,
and his work is impressively accomplished and theatrically sophisticated. In a
song like "Dibs," deliciously performed by Charity Parenzini, he takes a simple little idea
recalling the easy calling of "dibs" in childhood to claim something,
and expands that into a bittersweet and endearing wish for a woman's
empowerment over adult desire and affection. Ann Evans makes Gray's wistful fantasy
number, "Easy Listening" into a tender and impossible relationship
between a girl and her idol, between a girl and a voice, between a girl and
that voice. Evans is equally successful in realizing the more mature arrival of
a "June Bride" on the day when she finally weds, in the real world,
the woman of her dreams. Maggie Stenson has a wonderfully accomplished scene (a one-act,
really) called "8:45," where a husband and wife correspond to their
anniversary. All of these songs are by Richard Gray, and they really form the
critical mass of the production, the heart to its musical soul.
Gray
collaborates with Martin Charnin on the title song, which is a perfectly solid,
traditional Broadway show song and which is reprised twice more in the show as
well as for the finale. It works to hold the diverse material together, and
it's energetic and focused enough to bear the repetition. "Long Story
Short" is another collaboration between Charnin and Gray, and gives the
wonderful Shelly Burch a chance to combine her terrific singing voice and her equally
strong acting. Burch's dramatic authority is also evident in the touching
monologue, "Truly, Madly, Guiltily," in which a new mother explores
the "proper" balance of love and attraction toward her new child, and
her husband.
Those
monologues, by a number of writers, come to dominate the second act and, in my
opinion, detract from the energy and momentum of the songs that predominate in
the first act. The pieces are well written, to be sure, but with
"Reunion," for example, which concerns a difficult child who is sent
to a "tough love" camp and later to a boarding school, it seems too diffuse
a story, too removed from the speaker. Shelly Burch certainly is convincing in
her telling, but it feels like we've wandered too far from the women who did
the songs, from the immediacy of those musical reflections. Similarly, a comic
piece by Charnin called "The Note of Pete's Bed" is really just a
shaggy dog story, and not worth the static quality of the stage time. I think
the show could lose a couple of monologues, especially in the second act, and
replace them with a song or two, and it would greatly enhance the pace and
energy.
The
set design, by Alex Berry, is very attractive, with clear plastic chairs and
simple text projections, the whole production handsomely lighted. The costumes,
black pants with red tops by Deanne Middleton, were just right and Dwight
Beckmeyer's
musical direction and conducting of the tight, three-piece orchestra, creates a
rich and surprisingly full sound.
"Love
is Love" is satisfying in very many ways, most particularly in the skill
and accomplishment of the songwriting and the sincerity of the emotional
content. The four women are impressive and delightful, experienced and
compelling. I think the show still needs a bit more tightening before it's
ready for larger markets and larger venues, but this is already one of those
rare evenings of musical theatre where the audience comes out feeling like
they've been treated like adults, and like the shared experience is both true
and theatrical.