SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 2017
11 A
We love them, they’re perfect — don’t change
“I Love You,
You’re Perfect,
Don’t Change”
Review
B Y B URNEY G ARELICK
A
choir of angels intro-
duces Adam to Eve.
After
a
brief
exchange, fig leaves fall, and
the rest is history. The perpet-
uation of the human species
depends on finding the ideal
mate and that requires partici-
pating in the perils of securing
the perfect relationship.
There’s the rub.
And that rub has never been
so thoroughly tackled and
tickled than in the musical
comedy at Class Act Theatre
(CAT) June 16-18 and June
23-25.
I Love You, You're Perfect,
Now Change is a mouthful
that bursts with musical hilar-
ity as it reprises dating and
mating moments everyone’s
life. With book and lyrics by
Joe DePietro and music by
Jimmy Roberts, this is the sec-
ond-longest Off Broadway
show, opening in 1996 and
closing in 2008.
It clearly resonates with
audiences, whether it plays
New York City or Florence,
Ore.
240
HOURS
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❑ Tool kit
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❑ Short rubber hose for siphoning
❑ Jumper cables
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❑ Refl ectors and fl ares
❑ Flashlight with fresh batteries
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It’s a show full of singing,
more singing that speaking.
But don’t worry; it’s not
opera. It’s sketch comedy-
short scenes about dating
practices, circling the quarry,
punctuated by a song. The
women lament “Single Man
Drought” and the men assert
their masculinity with “Why?
Cause I’m a Guy.”
There’s also the guy who
lets his date choose a movie
that turns out to be a senti-
mental chick flick and he sur-
prises himself and her by
weeping copiously.
The first act involves dating
and mating. The second act
involves marriage, raising
children, rediscovering that
imperfect soul mate, growing
old together and apart. There’s
the “Baby Song” filled with
baby talk; “The Marriage
Tango” in which mom and dad
try to find a moment alone;
and the hilarious “On the
Highway of Love,” the bruis-
ing family car trip that offers
anything but love.
I Love You, You’re Perfect,
Now Change is the first pro-
duction in CAT’s second sea-
son, and it’s a perfectly
delightful opener. But the best
part is the acting ensemble —
five local actors with disparate
personalities who perform
together like a well-oiled
machine in which every part
moves in sync and in time for
a flawless two hours including
intermission.
The five actors each play
many parts and wear many
costumes. Flanked by a black
wall with black curtains for
entrances and exits and a bare
stage, the actors must not only
sing and speak, they must set
the scenes with a couple of
tables and chairs, sometimes
in darkness between scenes.
It’s a challenging and exacting
choreography, and they pull it
off with aplomb.
The remarkable actors
should be named simultane-
ously since listing them sepa-
rately implies one is more
excellent than another. They
are all MVPs, Most Valuable
Players, to use a guy sports
term women pretend to under-
stand.
So, in the order listed in the
show program, this exception-
al quintet includes: Maree
Beers, Melanie Heard, Wendy
Krause, Jacob Ternyik and
Jake Molano.
The singing actors are sup-
ported with live music provid-
ed by Pat Sapp at the key-
board. In Sapp’s very capable
hands, the music sparkles and
swings and never overwhelms
the bright lyrics. Show direc-
tor David Lauria, co-owner of
CAT, has done a terrific job
managing the frantic and fre-
netic show, complemented by
his production team. But it is
the acting ensemble that
strikes gold.
Beers, an impeccable vocal-
ist, proves adept at comedy,
especially in the following
scenes: The Lasagna Incident,
Satisfaction Guaranteed about
the law firm with partners
Masters and Johnson, and in
Funerals are for Dating, a
lovely sketch.
Heard, artistic director and
founder of CROW (Children’s
Repertory
of
Oregon
Workshops), takes center
stage to deliver all the skill,
balance, grace and timing she
continues to teach the CROW
kids.
Besides the poignant song
“I Will Be Loved Tonight,”
and the lament, “Always A
Bridesmaid,” she is a fantastic
comic, turning up as crazy
characters, she is laugh-out-
loud funny.
Krause returns to the
Florence stage where in the
past decades she played Daisy
Mae in Li'l Abner and Marilyn
Monroe in Sugar (the musical
version of Some Like It Hot).
In I Love You, You’re
Perfect, Now Change, she is
still hot, playing a variety of
characters, singing “He Called
Me” in the lovesick sketch
and playing the marriage-
minded mom in the parents
sketch that turns out not to be
as engaging as she and hubby
expected.
Ternyik is no stranger to the
Florence stage, having honed
his craft in productions by the
Last Resort Players and
CROW, most recently as
moonstruck Uncle Fester in
The Addams Family. In I Love
You, You're Perfect, Now
Change, his elegant melliflu-
ous voice speaks to the heart,
particularly in the poignant
“Should I Be Less in Love
with You?”
Molano is truly a wonder, a
natural actor and a marvelous
singer. His first stage venture
was Gomez in The Addams
Family.
I Love You, You're Perfect,
Now Change is only his sec-
ond show. When he does A
Stud & A Babe with Heard,
about two nerdy characters
who want to be hot, he
becomes the Superman on his
shirt. When he plays the dot-
ing dad and sings “The Baby
Song,” he is absolutely charm-
ing.
The five actors are inextri-
cably linked in this show,
singing duos, trios, quartets
and quintets and bantering in
one guise or another. Together
they create an extraordinarily
funny show that’s framed by
angels.
If we could, we’d crown
those actors with halos.
We love them, they’re per-
fect, don’t change a hair dur-
ing the two-weekend run.
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