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February 22, 2008 > Arts & Entertainment > Lovett’s I Love You, You’re Perfect needs little change

Lovett’s I Love You, You’re Perfect needs little change

By Ryan Stickney | Thresher staff

For a musical that is based almost entirely on dated suburban stereotypes, Lovett College’s production of the musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change manages to connect well with the modern college audience. Composed of a series of vignettes that illustrate a range of romantic experiences, the show catalogues a hilarious multitude of gender role stereotypes.

Director Tommy Mings, a Brown College junior, and Assistant Director Matthew O’Connor, a Hanszen College junior, have skillfully adapted a number of the more obviously ’90s pop culture references for maximum humorous impact. However, the directing team also keeps the more poignant moments intact, making for several seriously moving scenes in the midst of a gamut of pointed silliness.

The lion’s share of the credit must go to the consistent and versatile cast, composed of only four people: Lovett College juniors Paul Early and Allie Janda, Sid Richardson College junior Quinn Shadko and Sid senior Dan Williamson. Each one plays a range of ages from teen to elderly (Williamson and Shadko also make convincing children), with a range of personalities from hysterically neurotic to reliably self-assured. And they carry off each role with panache, humor and professional grace in the face of relentless, lightning-fast costume changes.

For the breadth of characters well portrayed, Early’s acting cannot be matched. He is equally believable — and equally funny — as a golf-crazed dud of a date, a sympathetic Italian pizza-boy backup singer, a dangerously and discontentedly single murder convict, and an amiable elderly funeral-hopping gentleman, among other roles. His singing is also excellent, encompassing as wide a range of styles and expressive timbres.

Janda has a penchant for extremely effective onstage honesty. Her intensity gives life and motivation to the more campy two-dimensional roles — while the more serious roles, including a recently recovered divorcee making her first dating video, becomes truly cathartic in her expressive voice.

Shadko frequently plays the roles closer to her age and range of experience, but is also surprisingly credible as a haranguing nag and a fragile but game old lady. Her over-the-top portrayals match those of her colleagues and the demands of the writing without becoming excessive, and her spot-on singing is similarly appropriate.

As an experienced voice major, Williamson gives a beautiful musical performance and fills it out with a lovely scope in acting choices. The scene that features him alone, contemplating the extent of his marriage and continuing devotion to his wife, is one of the most touching in the show.

Aside from their individual merits, the cast makes their skill evident in ensemble work. There is none of the upstaging one might expect from a collection of such experienced performers.

On top of that, the balance of catchy tunes is good. Credit here must go to the pianist, Will Rice College sophomore Robert Li Kam Wa, who not only keeps the musical energy and humor up for the entire show, but also plays through intermission with amusing piano arrangements of pop songs and video game themes, which add significantly to the experience of the show.

Although the values are a little foreign, the cast’s portrayal brings them alive and makes them more relevant, by thinking outside the play’s box. The show is quite funny when seen from the perspective of a participant in the suburban mating game, but it is the collaborative performance of the cast and band that makes the production truly spectacular.

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