The Catskill Chronicle

Review by Carol Montana, photos provided

FORESTBURGH, NY – Four hooded monk-like characters enter the stage and begin singing, quite solemnly, about the differences between men and women, and the emotional baggage they carry. And then they strip off their cassocks and become you and me, and pretty much every other person who has ever lived.

And so begins the perfect season opener at the Forestburgh Playhouse:I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (ILU), with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts. The play ran for 5,003 performances, and was the second longest running Off-Broadway musical (1996 to 2008).

Hugely popular, the play is upbeat and cute, with moments of silliness and poignancy, and plays like an Everyman of musical comedy, with its universal themes on love, dating and marriage. In other words, there’s something for everyone.

The somewhat solemn opening is followed is a series of vignettes that take us through every stage of a relationship including meeting and dating, parental approval, marriage and pregnancy, babies and children, dating videos, sexual satisfaction (or not) and even funerals.

The cast of four: Jessica Wagner, Scott Evans, Laura Beth Wells and Edward Juvier keep things lively and moving throughout the show.

ILU features, among other things, the fastest date in the world, “first dates are so awkward, let’s skip to the second, etc.,” people who lie when they’re dating, parents humiliating their children, and people who have nothing in common.

One of the funniest scenes is called “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and features Wagner and Evans as a married couple in bed who are guaranteed sexual fulfillment (or your money back so to speak) by lawyers Wells and Juvier.

And if you’ve ever been a bridesmaid, you’ll love the requisite “Always a Bridesmaid” scene done as a country-western song. “When I look in my closet, there’s a rainbow deposit of gowns so grotesque that I groan …”

Then there’s an hysterical interfaith dating scene that takes place in Attica prison, where the participants are “Scared Straight” into dating each other.

“Funerals are for Dating” starts out very funny as Juvier comes on to Wells at a viewing. Both do a nice job transforming themselves into elderly people. As the scene progresses, and the two compare their differences, the mood turns bittersweet and poignant. Placed as the second-to-last scene, the vignette is really nice way to end the show.

The set, cleverly designed by Darcy Engle, has a background of panels that are lit with multi-colored lights that vary for each scene. And in the stage right and left walls are cubby holes, which are sometimes used for props.

Providing accompaniment and bridge music between the scenes are the talented duo of Kevin Lawson on keyboard and Steven Cuevas on violin.

Thanks to the cast, musicians and director Larry Smiglewski, ILU is lighthearted and fun, a perfect frolic for an almost-summer matinee or evening.

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change runs through Sunday, June 20. Evening performances are at 8 p.m. and the Sunday matinee begins at 3 p.m.

For additional information and ticket reservations, go to the Forestburgh Playhouse Web site or call the box office at 845-794-1194.