Photo Flash: First Look at Quest's I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

Quest Theatre Ensemble's current production of I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE, by Tony-winning wordsmith Joe DiPietro and composer and entertainer Jimmy Roberts is a charming and tender look inside our deepest, darkest, most secret thoughts - whether out on a date, making headway toward the altar, or juggling the challenges of marriage. The performance schedule is Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through October 29, 2017. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Performing DiPietro and Roberts's long-running hit is a quartet of young voices and comedy whizzes directed by Laura Sturm, who appeared as P.T. Barnum's wife in Quest's BARNUM and directed Barbara Lhota's PHANTOM PAIN for Organic Theater at the Greenhouse Theater Center this spring. Sturm's take on the piece offers a 21st Century perspective on the continuing challenges of dating and mating and family.

The cast includes Liz Jarmer, who returns to Quest Theatre where she appeared earlier this year in the 15th annual production of BLUE NATIVITY. Before moving to Chicago, she was a resident company member at Music Theatre Wichita, the nationally recognized summer theatre. She earned her BFA in musical theatre at nearby Wichita State University, where she played such roles as Sally in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN and Mary Sunshine in CHICAGO. The comedic bent of these roles is no small coincidence; her move east includes studying at both The Second City Music Conservatory and iO. She is also a regular performer in Mind Over Chatter, a Second City Training Center sketch show, and can also be found at the comedy theatre, MCL Chicago, where she plays with Your MoMINT of Zen.

Gavin Donnellan is a graduate of both Second City and iO's conservatories and music programs. Since then, he has become a member of Storytown and Funny Bones, organizations dedicated to performing improv for the younger set, the latter of which focuses specifically on the hospital-bound. For another thing, his two-person spatial improv piece, CHAIRS, co-created with Melissa McNamara, has appeared at comedy festivals from Chicago to Vancouver. He and McNamara can currently be seen in another co-creation, the web series THE STUDIO.

Christian Aldridge returned to Illinois in 2016 from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin where he earned his BA in Music Theatre and Theatre Performance in such turns as the Padre in MAN OF LA MANCHA and Prospero in THE BREATH OF STARS, a continuation-of-sorts to THE TEMPEST. This able balancing of comedy and drama continued upon his arrival in Chicago, where he has played both Jesus in GODSPELL and the title role in MACBETH.

Completing the cast is Alys Dickerson, who joins Quest Theatre's production after performing the lead role of Ma Ubu in Organic Theatre's KING UBU. She is a theatre graduate of both the University of Kentucky and Northern Illinois University, where she obtained her Master's in acting. Throughout her studies and her career, the breadth of her range across styles stretches from the title role in ANTIGONE to Margaret in WOYZECK to Annie in THE REAL THING. In 2015, she also played the mad Narrator in a short film adaptation of THE TELL-TALE HEART.

I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE is recommended for audiences age 12 and up, due to some adult themes. Admission free, but reservations are strongly suggested and may be made at www.questensemble.org.

Photo Credit: Rob Karlic

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