Review: MY (UNAUTHORIZED) HALLMARK MOVIE MUSICAL at Irvine Theater Company

I wasn’t sure what to expect from My (Unauthorized) Hallmark Movie Musical. The one-woman show, playing at the Irvine Theater Company through August 10, pokes fun at the rom-com genre’s formulaic “Love always wins” conventions while still fully embracing its tropes.

First off, I'm not a fan of rom-coms. The last movie I saw with any romance in it was probably Frozen 2, and that's only because I have a 9-year-old.  

It’s also a “multimedia” production, which means it uses a “virtual cast” of eight performers whose scenes are prerecorded and projected on TV screens alongside the live star, Eloise Coopersmith. Also risky, given the potential for tech glitches.

The clincher: It’s a social event. Show tickets come with an invitation to “Dr. Love’s Rom-Com Experience,” an optional post-show “Mix and Mingle” event where participants can use high-tech wrist sensors and the “cutting edge” Tuesday App to gauge their comfort and compatibility with fellow audience members. (The program was developed by Dr. Paul J. Zak, a San Diego neuroscientist also known as “Dr. Love” from Season 20, Episode 2 of The Bachelor. Zak presumably saw a perfect partnership between his app and the rom-com crowd.) 

Wait, was this a speed dating event or a play? I wasn’t sure. But as a married woman who’s not a Hallmark devotee, I was skeptical.

Then again, as any good Hallmarkian would say (and as Coopersmith sings in the show’s first song): Bring on the Cheese. Because — whether you're a Hallmark loyalist or not — the show's formula works.

The charming 90-minute musical follows a middle-aged writer (played by  Coopersmith, who also wrote the book and lyrics), who longs to write the perfect Hallmark movie.

Mirroring her own life, her story centers around a woman producing a play. Of course, her alter-ego is way younger and lives in a faraway kingdom surrounded by packs of wolves and princes in disguise. Because Hallmark. 

As she writes, her story comes to life on TV screens around the stage, allowing her to interact with her characters as if they are actually in the room (even though their parts were recorded more than three years ago during the Covid-19 quarantine). 

Nina Herzog plays Eloise’s on-screen heroine, Emma. She nails the perfect Hallmark movie heroine, down to the hometown sweetness and feisty girl power resilience. For instance: Of course she snaps, “You lied to me!” when she learns her handsome, attentive suitor is actually a noble prince. No real woman would do that (more like “OMG, REALLY??), but Hallmark women would! 

Andre Joseph Perez plays the aforementioned handsome prince. His stoic and sincere delivery as every woman’s dream guy is spot-on: He’s so sensitive! He listens! He sees her for who she is on the inside! When his gentle caress gets a teensy bit close to her breast (merely grazing an armpit), Coopersmith pauses the scene to blurt out, “That’s the most sex you’ll ever see in a Hallmark movie!”

Benjamin Perez plays the show’s token bad guy, Maestro. He’s not really a villain, of course; he’s just a disgruntled man-boss who likes to wear a mysterious burlap cape and tell women what to do. Of course, he eventually sees the error in his ways and the story takes an un-Hallmarkian turn when he and the prince realize they don’t always have to be so brawny.  

In all, the interaction between Coopersmith and her on-screen costars is seamless. The actors jump from one TV screen to another so perfectly that I almost wondered if they were backstage performing the whole thing live. Kudos to Crissy Guerrero, who directed the film segments, and Anne Runolffson who did the stage direction. 

The whole concept could have been a technical nightmare, but it worked. Coopersmith explained afterward that once she “pushes that button” to cue the TVs, everything is timed to the tee. She has to deliver her lines at the perfect time to allow the prerecorded responses to meet her pace. It’s a high bar, but she pulls it off—even while hurriedly passing out Lindor chocolates to audience members while the characters on screen have a moment. (“I know this part!” she exclaims. “We need chocolate! Who wants chocolate!”)

Fun fact: Coopersmith is an avid Hallmark movie watcher, a ritual that began during the days of COVID-19 quarantine. True to form, Coopersmith spends almost the entirety of the show in a hot pink silk pants pajama set and bunched up white gym socks. Pandemic chic. 

The songs serve to lay on the cheese — in the best way possible — with titles such as “True Love’s Kiss,” “Heroine’s Journey,” and my favorite, “Doodl-ee-do,” which has a hilarious double entendre in verses that proclaim, “I’d like to Doodle-ee-do it with You,” as sweetly as a Disney melody.

  Anyone can doodle-ee-do it.

  And we can  doodle-ee-do it.

  Happy to  doodle-ee-do it 

  Together we’ll  doodle-ee-do it.

  Wheeeennnn we  doodle-ee-do it with you. 

It’s adorable until you realize you have no idea what they’re doodly-talking about. And that makes it funny. 

In fact, all of My (unauthorized) Hallmark Movie Musical is funny. The show manages to capture Hallmark’s signature corniness without being, in itself, corny.  

Whether you’re a Hallmark Movie fan or not, you’ll find yourself chuckling at the silliness of it all. Not to mention, Coopersmith can sing! Her vibrato may almost be too big for the small stage, but she’s got rom-com dreams bigger than her apartment. So it works. 

As for the “Rom-Com Experience” offered after the show, it’s really just a glorified demonstration of the Tuesday App. Which is neat, but not really what I came for.  

Another note: It is perhaps fitting that the theater company rents its space from Canvas a nondescript commercial strip center church. This is wholesome Hallmark fare, after all. A church works, even if it does feel like you’re going to a support group when you enter the theater’s lobby.

But let’s remember: Talent is talent, regardless of the size of the stage, and Coopersmith and her “virtual” costars have it in droves. 

So go doodle-ee-do it. 

My (unauthorized) Hallmark Movie Musical is playing at Canvas, 17332 Von Karman Avenue, #115 in Irvine. More information and tickets at:  https://www.lovealwayswinsmusical.com. 

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