BWW Reviews: YOU LOVE THAT I'M NOT YOUR WIFE a Real Crowd Pleaser in NoHo

You Love That I'm Not Your Wife/written & directed by Joanne Mosconi/Fringe Theatre Company/playing at Avery Schreiber Playhouse, NoHo/through October 5

Think quirky like Moonstruck, only transplant the action from New York to Los Angeles and replace the large Italian Family with a dysfunctional community of friends and their current significant others. For those that have forgotten Moonstruck it was a hit movie in 1987 in which relationships were turned upside down, inside out under the spell of a full moon, creating odd, unpredictable sexual entanglements. It's not John Patrick Shanley but Joanne Mosconi who has written You Love That I'm Not Your Wife, and with a kooky title like that, something's got to give comedically. Now onstage in NoHo at the Avery Schreiber Playhouse, Wife is a crowd-pleaser with miles of heart, 10 very likable characters as well as the actors playing them.. under the direction of the playwright who really knows how to keep the pacing fast and bright and to stage action fully within the confines of a minimal space.

Four couples. The place is shallow LA where wanna-be models, photographers, actors, screenwriters make their way through a crazy haze of meeting and bedding those with whom they come in contact...making a permanent relationship practically impossible. Marrieds Lynn and George (Vanessa Mesia and David Pinson) stay together against all odds even though they have no children and she dislikes his writing. Hard to believe in today's day and age. Sweet Marie (Amanda Rae Troisi) meets smooth operator Tony Cicarelli (Blake Boyd) and falls for his "Amore!" and romantic tryst in Italy. When they return, gal pals Lynn, Sofie (Carrie Schroeder) and Nikki (Chelsea Blechman) doubt Tony's sincerity based on bits of information they've obtained of his checkered past. Then there's Sofie's 'sugar daddy' affair with Dan (Paul Thomas Arnold), which is creating uneasiness when he craves a threesome. And finally... young Johnny (Michael Galante) and Nikki have always had an easy time of 'getting it on' but lately both have been tiring of one another in typical noncommital fashion. A somewhat predictable LA sexual scene made curiously fun and surprising by Mosconi's witty dialogue and spot.on characterizations. There is a party scene in Act II where all the characters come together to celebrate Marie and Tony's supposed engagement that is deliciously over-the-top with its baring of all infidelities and shouting spasms akin to World War III... also well choreographed by director Mosconi on this ultra tiny stage.

The actors are one and all terrific. Boyd as Tony wears his deceptions and macho-man supercool like a glove, whereas Arnold nicely shows a sympathetic side to the burly Dan. Pinson delivers a totally honest middle-age 'itch' as George and Galante as Johnny is your typical horny stud who can't keep his hands off his privates. Mesia is a real standout as Lynn bringing a confused, bewildered side to her supposed 'happy' housewife. Schroeder and Blechman are both delightful as the sexual victims and Troisi as Marie wins the hearts of her audience. Two other characters Heather (Charlotte Ellen Price), who creates a real spoiler alert for Tony, and a benign hustler Sebastian (Rashad Davis) add lots of color as played by the two excellent actors.

The play is a tad too long, the use of Cher's catch phrase from Moonstruck may be utilized a bit too hastily - will younger people even remember it?, and perhaps the singing in the Tony/Marie scenario could be eliminated, but aside from that the entire play is aggressively sexy, funny, with just enough substance thrown in to give it edge...all of this lending it wonderful potential for a continued run. One of my favorite lines stays with me: "We'll be just as miserable apart as together, so why don't we hold hands and stay together!" Nice advice if it works...for some, yes; for others, no! And that's what Mosconi is trying to get across in You Love That I'm Not Your Wife: play it cool and let the chips fall where they may. Good work on all fronts!

http://wwwfringetheatrecocom.ticketleap.com/you-love-that-im-not-your-wife/

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