Capping off their 100th year, Theatre Harrisburg brings us the off-Broadway romantic musical comedy “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” by Director Annette Trossbach and Assistant Director Becky Mease. This play is the most indulgent kind of brain candy, like eating a whole tub of Jelly Bellies in your jammies in front of the TV on a Friday night. (Never mind what night I’m writing this review, or what I’m stuffing into my face, either.)
This playful comedy is perfect accompaniment for whatever guilty pleasure you like to binge on weekends. After a tough week of problem solving and decision-making, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” demands nothing of you. You won’t find any complicated plot points or story arc to track, no complex characters to analyze, and no matter where you are in your own love story, you’ll find every vignette in the play relatable to your own story in some way.
Dramaturg Frederick D. Miller hinted that “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” would bring other love stories to mind. With its candy-like texture, I found myself bonding with many of the vignettes. I couldn’t help thinking of my own husband – known as “Poor George” in our circles – and our recent 25th anniversary celebration. The play’s most connectable scenarios are hilariously human, composed of the random, un-glamourous stuff of life, with days swirling around kids’ needs, unwanted hair removal, and keeping score on whose turn it is to mow the lawn or change a diaper.
The stage contains only four actors (Glenn Muir, Man #1; Tony Leukis, Man #2; Heather Stoll, Woman #1; Emmalee Shirley, Woman #2), but we meet over 40 different characters who regale us with short love stories… flirting, dating, falling in love, parenting, navigating relationships, and even the lost love of being divorced or widowed. The characters onstage are purposefully unnamed and undeveloped, but you’re mentally naming each one after someone in your own life as soon as you recognize them.
Muir, Leukis, Stoll and Shirley are at their best when they’re showing Everyman and Everywoman at their most vulnerable, the Mars of men and the Venus of women. Collectively, they capture the excitement of meet cutes, the unease of young love, and the butterflies flying away in aged love that somewhere along the line was replaced with routines and long histories together.
What’s a whole tub of Jelly Bellies without a glass of chocolate milk to wash them down? Nicholas Werner (keys), Jeremy Blouch (guitar/bass), and Sara Benson (drums/percussion) provide the genre-bending backdrop to the play’s hilarious soundtrack, which often shifts tempo and mood multiple times mid-song. Like the process itself of finding love, the cast and musicians take us on an unpredictable ride that can cut close and feel familiar, like letting your grandson take the wheel on the bumper cars.
Take the opening number, “Cantata for a First Date.” It starts off like a monk chant, carries through like a Billy Joel song, and lands somewhere near a campfire singalong sung in a round. There isn’t any predictable structure to it, yet I still found myself shimmying along, chair-dancing to what may have been the chorus: “Emotional Baaaggaaage.”
In “Stud and a Babe,” Muir and Shirley are a-dork-able, exuding oodles of nerdy chemistry and awkwardness while trying to be sexy on a date. I think we’ve all been on this same date, even if we didn’t break into song to share our inner monologues. Muir and Shirley also showcase their dynamic in “Marriage Tango,” while amidst the melee that is raising children, trying to f&#!inagle alone time with each other.
Shirley nails her solo, “I Will Be Loved Tonight,” an earnest ballad graphically describing her evening plans with her special mate. Muir also shines in his sincere delivery of my favorite ballad of the soundtrack, “Shouldn’t I Be Less in Love with You?” (Please don’t tell Poor George.)
On the lighter side of crooning solos, Stoll shows her range in donning cowgirl boots and a southern accent in the countrified “Always a Bridesmaid.” Leukus delivers “The Baby Song” as a gay father, straddling the spectrum between a babbling balladeer and an empowered rapper. If that sounded like a Florida Man headline, sometimes love is just that bizarre.
Together, Leukus and Stoll harmonize well in the weirdly fast-forwarded meet cute, “Better Things to Do.” In “Tear Jerk,” Stoll hits the high notes while Leukus chokes down his emotions along with his popcorn. And the poignant “I Can Live with That,” shows a grossly inappropriate pick-up attempt at a funeral. Leukus and Stoll are undeniably sweet together.
There are some PG-13 moments in this show for language and content, and some scenarios may not be relatable for younger viewers. Otherwise, if light rom-coms are your thing, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” is a gal pal sugar rush, or for dragging along your own Poor George, despite protests of, “But regular people don’t break into song during conversations.”
True story: When Poor George and I were engaged, he said, “If you’re marrying me with the intent of changing me, then don’t marry me. I’m not going to change.” Admittedly, we had a May/December romance, and 20-something me didn’t fully absorb the warnings of the more seasoned 30-something he. So the wisdom that once sailed over my immature head, forever hopped up on Jelly Bellies, now becomes a cautionary tale for all of you.
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” runs through June 21 at Krevsky Center, 513 Hurlock St., Harrisburg. For show times and tickets, visit https://theatreharrisburg.com/i-love-you-youre-perfect-now-change/.
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