Review: I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE! at White Plains Performing Arts Center

I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE!

WHITE PLAINS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts was the second-longest running Off Broadway musical of all time.

It's a hilarious look at contemporary relationships through a series of musical vignettes. Each vignette introduces a new set of unnamed characters in various states of the relationship "life-cycle." Consequently, the scenes progress more or less in the chronological order of a typical relationship, from first dates to marriage and having children, etc.

This show generally sinks or swims based upon the talents and flexibility of the cast - and this cast was especially buoyant! The cast featured married couple, Brittany Bara and Daniel Pivovar (whose chemistry was unsurprisingly pitch perfect) Steven Liberto and Tiffany Stoker. The cast was top notch all around with no weak links; each displaying a wealth emotions, superb comic timing and first-rate singing. The spritely clever and understated choreography for the actors' delightful "dance" sequences was provided by Lexie Fennell Frare, who continually delivers outstanding work for WPPAC.

The single unit set, included two platforms stage left and right that provided for some fun and interesting blocking choices. Director Amy Griffin deftly led her talented cast through their paces in a brisk manner that was appropriately madcap for the majority of the evening, yet tender and vulnerable during the evening's two big solo moments. The juxtaposition of the bigger brassier moments against the touching solos: "I Will Be Loved Tonight" and "Shouldn't I Be Less in Love with You?" couldn't have been better executed, displaying a wonderful contrast of material, performance and direction.

Note should be made that this show is typically done in houses with stages much smaller than the gigantic WPPAC stage. Special kudos to director Amy Griffin for effectively drawing the audience in for the more intimate moments, which could easily have gotten lost or swallowed up on such a big stage. Her keen sense of character development brought life and urgency to the solo sections creating a meaningful connection between her characters and the audience.

The musical is largely a non-stop comedy for most of the evening, interrupted by several well-placed changes of pace in the form of soliloquies. It's not Eugene O'Neill in depth or Stephen Sondheim in structure, but it is a lot of fun and pure, non-stop entertainment, and the grateful audience awarded the show a warm standing ovation at the conclusion.

The one question that persists is, why does WPPAC do only three performances of these shows? Much like the fall's hit, "Closer Than Ever" which also received only three performances over a single weekend, one can only imagine that the show would get even stronger with more performances. Here's hoping that will be the case in the future!

- Peter Danish

Photo credit: Kathleen Davidson

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