Review: Oyster Mill I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE Boasts Strong Cast

In interviewing professional performers about their favorite shows, this writer has had only a few shows turn up persistently as "one of my favorite parts was..." fodder. One of them is I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE, the sketch-and-song review of relationships assembled by Joe DiPietro and composer Jimmy Roberts. Off-Broadway the show logged 5000 performances between 1996 and 2008, making it one of the longest-running shows, well, ever, anywhere. DiPietro's had a good run on stage, including on Broadway, also being responsible for the book of NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT and for the stage hit MEMPHIS; this is a much smaller show than either of those.

Right now it's at Oyster Mill Playhouse, where you can judge both its fun for the performers on stage (hint: it looks as if they're having a blast most of the time) and whether it deserves to be one of the longest-running shows, ever, anywhere. While it may be incredible fun to perform, which does make it fun to watch, parts of it are hysterically funny moments, and parts of it are, not to put too fine a point on it, old when they were first put into the show. A few moments are older than Rodney Dangerfield, and a few are cringeworthily sexist, which DiPietro seems not to have noticed. One of them is downright vicious, in this author's opinion, but you can decide your tolerance level for yourself. You'll enjoy the cast, no matter what.

There's a fast-moving cast of five principals, who play various unnamed characters: Michael Beckstein, Rebecca J. Bremer, Jacke, Carl Nieweld, and Nicole Sutton. There are also two silent set-changing, comic "cleaning ladies" (at least one of whom also fills in as an extra on-stage person in some scenes), Katie Albright and Miranda Hallas, who pop on stage between scenes. Although they're primarily mugging silently for the audience, their presence is welcome, and they also seem to be having a fine time on stage in their small, cheery turns. Director Michael Zorger's cast selection is commendable, including these two "clowns".

The show covers the gamut of relationship issues, from "man shortages" to first dates, from broken engagements to a full car of kids, and an elderly couple that meets at a funeral. The opening "Cantata for a First Date" is nicely executed by the full ensemble of five, starting out as a church choir, in robes, and transforming into their date wear as they sing.

The second vignette, "I'm Busy, Busy, Busy" is based on a nice conceit, executed neatly - if you can skip the preliminaries in a date, why not skip straight to breaking up and getting back together rather than bothering with that clumsy first date? After all, who's got time for courtships these days? In a day of cell phones, the Internet, and eHarmony, none of which are in the show, DiPietro's idea now nearly exists. The scene's song, "We Had It All," is pretty and poignant, and equally well-delivered by the cast. A skit known as "The Lasagna Incident" has a beautiful song, "I Will Be Loved Tonight," performed equally beautifully by Sutton; however, the skit seems half-finished, with setup, song, and then no payoff to the business of inviting the slightly recalcitrant guy from the gym home for dinner.

There are potshots at frumpy bridesmaid gowns, annoying lawyer ads, and family, that last leading to what is probably the unfortunate skit, "And Now The Parents," in which an older couple presumes their son and his girlfriend will announce their engagement, when they are in fact there to tell the parents that they're breaking up; said parents engage in "Hey There, Single Gal/Guy," which, rather than lampooning "Hey There, Lonely Girl" rather excoriates the girlfriend for daring to want to focus on her career - this was sexist before the show ever opened in 1996 - and castigates the son for unwillingness to commit, and generally skewers both for depriving Mom and Dad of grandkids. Despite the unfortunate attitude and more unfortunate song, the cast is again having fun, and Zorger has orchestrated what is possibly the best spit-take seen on any area stage of late, executed by Nieweld. It's a beautiful moment of comedy, a shining light in a bit that's not the author's best work.

But after that comes a glorious piece of comic wonder, the "Waiting" sketch, with accompanying song, in which a wife slowly goes insane waiting for her husband's football game to end, a husband begins to go insane waiting at the mall, and a woman has her own bout of panic in the ladies' room line. If anything in this show is a total reflection of real life, this is it.

The last sketch is certainly the most priceless, though it's more sweet than roll-on-the-floor funny. "Funerals Are For Dating" introduces an elderly couple who have seen each other across the viewing lines of a couple of recent funerals, and are now meeting in a church pew. Waiting around and a questionable salami sandwich lead to mutual interest and a charmingly awkward fear of the steps of dating after sixty. "I Can Live With That" is a lovely duet of bad-habit revelations and fears of rejection that's a vivid reminder that relationships don't get easier later in life.

The ensemble works together remarkably well throughout the shifts in characters and scenes, and Zorger's gotten the pace down nicely. It's a simple and uncomplicated show, basically plotless, mostly funny - though as indicated, some of the humor was old when dinosaurs roamed, and some of it's based on gender stereotyping that's not really funny any more. Overall, the funny quotient wins, but more especially, there's no doubt that this cast does. So do Mary George and Sharon Jones, pianist and violinist, who accompany the cast in the musical moments. They're on stage the entire time, as much as the cast is, and become part of the show themselves. Don't just listen to the singing if you come - pay attention to these musicians, because you'll be hearing some truly lovely work.

Through May 1 at Oyster Mill Playhouse. Use judgment about kids - there are adult moments. Visit oystermill.com for tickets and information.

Next on deck, Tim Kelly's THE BURNING MAN, not to be confused with the festival of the same name, but a murder mystery. Noel Coward and Christopher Durang plays follow - it's an eclectic and interesting season at Oyster Mill, possibly one of the most nicely selected seasons at any of the area theatres this year.

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