Theatre review: Love is timeless in uproarious I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
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I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Sing’Theatre
Alliance Francaise Theatre
Thursday, 8pm
Every vignette in this witty, occasionally absurdist, musical about love in its many forms is a riot, guaranteed to make the most curmudgeonly and romance-weary crack a smile.
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is the second-longest-running off-Broadway musical (after The Fantasticks), having premiered at Westside Theatre in New York in 1996. With music by Jimmy Roberts and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, it has played from Madrid to Mexico City, Cape Town to Taiwan.
Now, it is in Singapore at the Alliance Francaise Theatre, wonderfully given life by an experienced four-actor ensemble that includes expert Andrew Marko.
Each actor has the physical comedy down pat. It makes for uproarious entertainment – and one or two unexpected moments of pathos.
Directed by T.J. Taylor, the musical broadly traces romance through people’s lives (though it begins at the beginning of time with the creation of man and woman).
It is less interested in narrative than drawing out particularly relatable moments in relationships, from the dreariness of blind-dating – here updated to dating on Tinder – to marriage, parenting and love in old age.
The four actors take on a whirlwind cast of characters, quickly ageing or, in one scene, becoming children in unconnected skits.
The musical numbers never drag and impress with their range, whether it is the new-age gospel tunes of Wedding Vows, the rap of The Baby Song or the morose duet of I Can Live With That.
Sing’Theatre-trained soprano Misha Paule Tan is especially impressive when she is acting thrice her age.
Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai’s confident acting and strong vocals are the perfect complement to Benjamin Chow’s doe-eyed crooning in Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You and snake-oil sleaze in other numbers.
Marko’s range is startling here, from a mass murderer to one half of a gay couple to his ability to make the mere pronouncing of “stud” a comedic event.
The actors’ easy chemistry makes the various couple combinations a joy to watch.
The criticism of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change has always been that it is too heteronormative, that it plays too much into stereotypes.
But whether depicting an emasculated husband asserting himself as king of the domain in his car or an awkward family dinner with one’s in-law, the work is so enjoyable, you are bound not to care.
A sprinkling of localised elements is the icing on top. DiPietro and Roberts’ musical makes the case that maybe in love, something timeless can be found.
Book it/I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Where: Alliance Francaise Theatre, 1 Sarkies Road str.sg/ioZW
When: Till April 30, Tuesdays to Fridays, 8pm; Saturdays, 4 and 8pm; Sundays, 3 and 7pm
Admission: From $50
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