I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change

With its witty ensemble pieces
and clever solo turns, I Love You can be a performer’s playground.
Returning cast members Tamaralee Shutt and Thomas D. Warner have found
able playmates in Katheryn Guyette and Dana Sovocool. In the opening
“Cantata for a First Date,” the quartet sets the tone for the evening
to the refrain of “Emotional Baggage,” reminding of the disappointment
that can lurk behind each step of a romance. Within minutes, the female
half of the cast is bemoaning a “serious single-man drought,” and a
macho boyfriend is fighting tears at the movies.

The
stage has been set for an evening of sharp observations mixed with a
healthy dose of agreeable cliches. Couples race through the stages of a
relationship, face meddling parents and advertise sexual satisfaction
lawsuits. In the show’s wackiest sketch, a singles group meets at a
prison. An orange jump-suited Sovocool chews the scenery as the
strangest matchmaker ever, a death row prisoner glaring, twitching and
bullying a couple into a relationship.

While
the first act deals with dating, the sharply observed and performed
second act takes a look at married life. In a country-western parody,
Shutt, illustrating a situation that has become a staple comic riff,
hilariously laments the fact that she’s “Always a Bridesmaid.” Trapped
in a dress that looks like a toxic Easter basket, she gets hearty
laughs out of lyrics that rhyme “velourish” with “whorish.”

At
times, I Love You takes on a sweeter tone. Old people find love by
visiting funeral homes, and new parents discover that their whole world
has suddenly become much smaller. Proceeding from a comic premise, the
quartet “Waiting” becomes a shrewd contemplation on time as husbands
and wives examine the clock-stopping qualities of shopping and
football. In the moving “Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You?,” Warner
offers genuine warmth as a middle-aged man bewildered by his continuing
devotion to his wife. Glowing with the joy of sudden self-discovery,
Guyette runs the gamut of emotions as a newly divorced woman suddenly
back into the dating game in “The Very First Dating Video of Rose
Ritz.”

Ably assisted by musical director
Douglas Pyke and violinist John Harnois, director Panek, a veteran of
the long-running Rochester production of I Love You, has a firm hand on
the proceedings, keeping the spirits running high and cuteness at bay.
The sleek red and black set design by Tamaralee Shutt neatly frames the
action.

Salt City Center’s I Love You,
You’re Perfect, Now Change doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s a
skillfully performed romp through familiar territory. It’s a
comfortable fit for Syracuse audiences looking for a quick winter
warm-up.

This production runs through Feb. 10. See Times Table for information.

—Len Fonte