Monday, September 23, 2024

ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS DELIGHT IN "I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE"

As soon as God created Adam and Eve and mixed in an apple and a snake, problems began. In the beginning, God peopled the earth, which was then confined to the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve, and that is the precise moment when complicated romantic relationships began. Fast forward a few millenniums and playwright Joe DiPietro, with music by Jimmy Roberts, continues the story in his fascinating and funny musical series of vignettes “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”

For an intimate, charming and revealing look at dating, courtship, marriage, divorce, birth and death, the whole megillah, head directly to Center Stage in Shelton weekends until Sunday, September 29. In almost two dozen tales, you will be privy to the anxiety and angst, the preparation and the preening, the fuss and the futility of all the love drenched situations that have forever made the world go round and round and round. You’ve probably experienced a goodly number of them yourself.

Hop aboard the bus with Joelle Cote, Jen Beveridge, Nick Nunez and Jaxon Beirne as the quartet become your trusty tour guides on the often rocky path to true wedded bliss. From those awkward first dates when you want to skip right to the good stuff all the way to providing great pick-up lines at funerals, DiPietro doesn’t leave any possibility for romance stuck under any rocks. This troupe is worthy of venturing down all the bumpy paths for maximum humor and delight in the laughter department.

DiPietro deals with such pressing issues as “Men Who Talk and the Women Who Pretend They’re Listening,” a visit with new parents who are fixated on their recent arrival, lawyers who guarantee sexual satisfaction, a family drive in the car where everyone arrives alive and how not to make a dating video.

This talented quartet play studs and babes, men who cry at chick-flicks, women who offer to cook lasagna but really want to give themselves as the main dish, what happens when a man who promises to call actually does and the complicated tango dance of a married couple with children always under foot. Justin Zenchuk directs this engaging courtship cha-cha-cha with finesse. John Morrow on keys and music director, Allegra Pin on bass and Jose Bastardes on violin keep the pace moving forward with spirit.

For tickets ($36 adults and $18 students), call the Center Stage, 54 Grove Street, Shelton at 203-225-6079 or online at www.centerstageshelton.org. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

No matter what stage of the romance meter you measure yourself on, you’ll find a lot to enjoy on this highway of love. Come and abandon yourself to the varied parameters of romance and all the charms and chaos trapped within.

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