Review: THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF NOW from Thalia's Umbrella a Sweet Twist on the RomCom

Many have wished they could alter the personality of their significant others in some way but it's usually something small. Don't eat in bed. Stop telling corny jokes. Don't spend all our money on geeky toys. But what if your spouse suddenly had a whole new personality ... and you liked it better? Such is the conceit of the world premiere from Thalia's Umbrella with Y York's "The Impossibility of Now" currently playing at 12th Avenue Arts. And with York's rich dialog and characters and the fantastic cast this sweet little romantic comedy is a delight.

It's fairly simple. Carl (Terry Edward Moore) wasn't a very pleasant man. A successful ghost writer he would immerse himself in his work and lock himself away in his windowless office leaving his wife Miranda (Betsy Schwartz), a successful poet, to her own devices. Devices that led her to the recently divorced dentist Anthony (Joshua Carter). But then after an accident, Carl emerges from a coma with amnesia and a whole new outlook. He's pleasant and doting and thoroughly enamored with his wife making her rethink her dalliances with the dentist.

York wonderfully leads us through this story making us care about the characters even when they do horrible things. Anthony's kind of a scheming man-child but we don't despise him. Nor do we hate either side of the crumbling marriage. Instead we latch onto all of them through fantastic dialog and a story that, while taking a little bit to get going, pays off in the end as it beautifully circles around upon itself.

Director Daniel Wilson has assembled a top notch cast for the tale and keeps the pace going well with some fantastic multilevel staging facilitated nicely by Roberta Russell's sets and lights. And that cast. A trio of professionals who've been wowing us for years. Moore takes on this mentally broken man with grace and thought, never making him a stereotype or cliché. And you can feel the light and heart pouring off him throughout. Schwartz manages a stunning journey as she goes from someone who hates her situation to someone who doesn't know what she really wants. And Carter takes this somewhat sleazy lothario and makes him real and honest and never lets him get to the point of a cartoon.

This would be an easy show for all three actors to go to a bad place of overblown caricatures but thankfully these pros didn't let that happen as it would have sapped the heart from York's script. And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give Thalia's Umbrella's production of "The Impossibility of Now" a delighted YAY. A sweet little story from a gifted group of storytellers. What more do you want?

"The Impossibility of Now" from Thalia's Umbrella performs at 12th Avenue Arts through March 31st. For tickets or information visit them online at www.thaliasumbrella.org.

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