Theater Review - "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!"

THEATER REVIEW

“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!” Produced by Theatre Three – Port Jefferson - Reviewed by Jeb Ladouceur

Lisa Brodsky, Brett Chizever, Jenna Kavaler, James D. SchultzThe comedy, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!” with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, and music by Jimmy Roberts, is the second-longest running Off-Broadway musical ever! Translating that accolade into its number of performances, and duration in the limelight, means that the revue was performed 5000 times in New York between August of 1996 and August 2008 … a run that could well have been predicted by its Outer Critics Circle nomination for ‘Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical’ in 1997. 

Judging from the reaction of standing-room-only aficionados at Theatre Three’s comfortable Port Jefferson playhouse last Sunday, the wildly funny offering, directed and choreographed by Steve McCoy, is probably a faithful reincarnation of the original hit. It’s just wonderful! The show made for the most fun this reviewer has had at any theater in years. 

Critics always hate to admit that they’ve missed out on something important. But in the interest of transparency, let it be known that the splendid production now on the boards on Main Street in Port Jeff, provided my first opportunity to experience this incisive theatrical probe into the human condition … the complex mechanism that makes us all tick.

And what a gamut of real-life experiences the versatile acting quartet of two women and two men navigate, as they take us through scene after scene of “ain’t it the truth” vignettes!

This revue’s cast of talented performers, (Lisa Brodsky, Brett Chizever, Jenna Kavaler, and James D. Schultz) could hardly have been more entertaining, as they led the audience along a witty series of incidents that shone a revealing light on ‘everyman’s’ libidinous proclivities. Audience members were clearly guided to a recollection of the angst associated with adolescence … were shepherded anew through the trials associated with marriage and parenthood … and some, I’m sure, even recognized the heartwarming phenomenon that is romantic love in old age. 

It’s virtually impossible to single out a given performance in this production of “I Love You, You’re Perfect…” as being exceptional. Sure, the Ethel Mermanesque “Always A Bridesmaid” is a number we’re unlikely ever to forget. Same goes for the endearing tribute to everlasting love, “Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You?” But honestly, this is an all-hands effort on the part of the entire company … both on-stage, and behind it. The bar is set high at the outset, and each of the performers consistently clears it.

Jack Kohl and his musicians are perfectly synchronized … Randall Parsons can create a fitting set like no one else in the business (especially with the help of Robert W. Henderson Jr.’s lighting) … and Amanda Geraci dresses everyone neatly with appropriate costumes. There isn’t a weak link in the chain.

Indeed, everybody at Theatre Three can be proud of this superlative staging. Like the hundreds who stood and cheered the other day, I am unequivocally delighted finally to have discovered an uproarious and moving show I’d heretofore missed. 

The production runs thru March 28.

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Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of nine novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In his newest thriller, HARVEST, an American military doctor is seized by a sinister gang of organ traffickers in The Balkans, and ordered to perform illegal surgeries. Ladouceur’s upcoming spellbinder, THE QUANTUM SYNDROME, is based on the Atlanta child murders of the 80’s, and is due this spring.