Stage Review - I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Renton Civic Theatre)

Stage Review - I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Presented By: Renton Civic Theatre - Renton, WA
Show Run: February 14 - March 02, 2025
Date Reviewed: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Run Time: 2 Hours (including 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

After the past number of months in which the Renton Civic Theatre was embroiled in its fair share of turmoil, it could use some good news. I won’t get into any of the details here, those are easy to find out on the interwebs, but with a new board in place and a new season announced, there’s a din of excitement around the almost forty year old theatre carved out of one of the few old movie houses in downtown Renton. As if the board knew that it needed to reboot itself with something more on the fun side, as a way to get people re-engaged, the 2025 season is being kicked off with the 1996 Off-Broadway musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, coincidentally a show that is the second longest running Off-Broadway musical. To lead this first show back, the theatre has also called upon someone who knows a thing or two about delivering a big show in an entertaining way, Mauro Bozzo, a Sound on Stage Award winner in 2023, who is directing this RCT production, which runs on stage in Renton through March 2. The musical, which follows the lifecycle of relationships, from the first man and first woman, and incidentally the first time a man said that he wanted to see other people, the joke being of course that there WERE no other people, but also that men have always been men, much to the chagrin of their partners, to our golden years when instead of meeting each other in bars, we meet each other in funeral homes, and everything in between. The songs are catchy and fun, the choreography, also designed by Mauro, elegant and light, and the jokes are plenty. Everyone, who has ever been in a relationship will surely be able to relate to at least one of the vignettes that are presented in this musical comedy, and probably be able to empathize with the rest. Choosing I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is not just a safe way to open up the reinvigorated Renton Civic Theatre, with a show that’s familiar, funny, and fun, but if what I saw from Mauro, his creative team, and cast is any indication, it’s the best way to open it up.

The reflective nature of the show is told, as I hinted at above, in a series of vignettes, by a cast of eight, named only as Woman 1, Man 1, Woman 2, Man 2, and so on. For this production, Daisy Nau is Woman 1, Mariesa Genzale is Woman 2, Kate Connors is Woman 3, and Sharry O’Hare, who is celebrating her 65th anniversary in theatre with this show, as Woman 4. Meanwhile Man 1 is played by Max Lopuszynski, Man 2 by Charlie Stevens, Man 3 by David Yake, and Man 4 is Michael O’Hara. After the opening number, an ensemble piece that feels biblical as it introduces the cast and details the creation of man and woman and includes that hilarious first joke, one that also serves to set the tone for the type of humor that will be heard throughout the show, the group works generally in pairs, though that’s not exclusively true. In the majority of the numbers, especially in Act 1, Max and Daisy pair up (Man 1 and Woman 1), while Charlie and Mariesa perform together (Man 1 and Woman 2). The Act 1 scenes move from the creation of man and woman through the challenges of being alone in a world of couples, to the nervousness of being accepted for who you truly are, dating, and up through the most hopeful part of a relationship, a wedding. Man 3 and Woman 3 (David Yake and Kate Connors) are seen a bit in Act 1, but more so in Act 2 when the audience bears witness to situations involving children, a couple growing older together in a relationship, and finally being a widow or widower and nervously introducing yourself to someone new. It’s in this last one when the audience finally gets to see Sharry O’Hare and Michael O’Hara as Woman and Man 4, respectively. It’s pretty clear that in the construction of the show, the priority is in its relatability, and through that its humor and fun.

From a design perspective, the setup of the stage is quite simple. The set, painted to resemble a marble floor, is laid out in three levels, a main level that takes up the majority of the area where the props, designed by Julia Gorordo are placed for each particular scene or vignette, a raised area behind that main area that is used for one or two scenes, ones that require a little more depth in presentation, and a final, third level, to stage right, which is reserved for the trio of musicians, who provide accompaniment to the songs in each individual scene. Daniel Self on piano, Lamar Lofton on Bass, and Lindsay Delmarter on Flute are solid in their work providing backup to this cast of wonderful vocalist, with Lindsay’s work as Music Director for the show being a big reason for the cast’s overall vocal quality as an ensemble, and in their duets and individual performances as well, presenting very nice harmonies, and even volume levels across the group. The songs are enjoyable just in their writing, but each member of this cast is not just talented, but they’re prepared, confident, and strong, again speaking to a combination of their talent, Mauro’s casting, and Lindsay’s work. The majority of delivery falls on the shoulders of the actors, but there are some excellent highlights from the creative team as well. In Act 2, “The Highway of Love”, a creative use of chairs, some excellent blocking and choreography from Mauro, and crisp vocal delivery from Daisy, Mariesa, Max, and Charlie while they’re moving swiftly around the stage makes for a very fun number, while “The Marriage Tango” is passionately danced by Max and Mariesa, and beautifully lit, just one example of the nice lighting design from Jacob Viramontes, another being at the end of the first act, when Max and Daisy wonder what they’ve gotten themselves into. “I Can Live With That” includes some excellent spotlight work, the near closing number featuring Sharry and Michael, and finally a note on costumes, designed by Jesse Huntwork and Noel Pederson, there are a lot, each scene requiring a costume change, so not only are they functional from a design perspective, fitting the purpose of the scene, and fitting it well, they also make for quick changes, of which there are a decent number, the speed of the costume, and prop, changes key to keeping the pace of the show.

And yes, with a mostly simple design, it’s left largely to the actors not just to bring out the humor of the individual stories, but also the heart, meaning that to make each vignette relatable, it has to be acted in a way that is believable, and each song performed with a good deal of quality. Thankfully, this cast that Mauro has assembled has a wide range of experience in years and a lot of talent. Max Lopuszyski has arguably the most stage time, he and Daisy are pretty close if I’m keeping score, and what I’ve always loved about Max’s acting is on full display in this show. If I had to describe Max in one word, it would be “showman”, he’s so expressive and his personality on stage is always larger than life, and he brings that quality to each performance in “You’re Perfect”, as he does in “A Stud and a Babe”, in which he and Daisy ponder life if they each weren’t so nerdy, and “Why, Cause I’m a Guy”. He also shows a more tender side in Act 2 with “Shouldn’t I Be Less in Love With You?”, a wonderful love song in which Max’s character considers the time he’s been married and thinks there’s no reason on earth he should still be in love with his wife, but he is. And it seems like Daisy is mostly Max’s other half on stage, and she’s excellent in keeping up with him, they play off each other very well. Mariesa and Charlie are the other pair that do a lot of the work in Act 1, a great example of their work together being “Not Tonight, I’m Busy, Busy, Busy”, a scene in which both characters are negotiating the dating scene, and decide, because they’re too busy with the other parts of their lives, to skip through the pretense of the first, then second, then third date, getting right to the awkward physical part of the relationship. It’s a funny scene, and just the first of many where Charlie shows his versatility in playing numerous characters, which include an incredibly funny turn as an inmate “guest star” in the “Scared Straight” segment, and the father in “The Family That Drives Together”. Mariesa is also excellent in portraying different kinds of characters, she has a fantastic singing voice, and shows throughout how good of a well-rounded actor she is.

It’s in Act 2 when we get to see more of the rest of the cast, and right away, in “Always a Bridesmaid”, the audience gets to see (and hear) how wonderful Kate Connors is. The entire number is spectacular, and for my part one of the true highlights of the show from a pure performance perspective. Kate can sing, she can belt, and she can also act. The entire cast can sing, and sing well, of course, so it should go without saying that vocally this number would be good, but it’s a complete performance, it’s off the charts good. Following that song is a humorous vignette about parents and their newborn baby, which features “The Baby Song”, a nice performance from David. As the lifecycle of love progresses and makes its way into the senior years, the show has what is by far the sweetest moment, the meeting of a widow (Sharry) and widower (Michael) at a funeral that neither were invited to. Michael’s character begins some flirting with Sharry, which is of course funny, but it eventually leads into “I Can live With That”, a sentimental number that is exquisitely performed by this duo. I feel like what Mauro has done here, not just with the cast that he’s brought in, but the actors he’s assigned to each story, or vignette, because there’s no requirement that Man 1 and Woman 1 have to be together necessarily, is genius. When you look back at a show and think that each actor is the right one to play each particular character, you know the show is going to work. In fact, the only thing that I still don’t get about the show is the title. I follow the “I Love You” part, and the “You’re Perfect” part, but the “Now Change” part eludes me, though perhaps it refers to the amount of changes between scenes in the musical? There are no songs or scenes really asking people to change, so I’m not entirely sure. But if that’s my biggest issue with this musical, there are worse things…..

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, the show meant to welcome people back to the reimagined Renton Civic Theatre, has a lot of pressure thrust upon it, as a bellwether of future shows and audience attendance to say the least. The show is a safe choice, in that it’s familiar, funny (i.e. not a drama), and relatable, and as a musical it has songs that will get the audience’s feet tapping for sure. Under the direction of Mauro Bozzo, a small but mighty cast tells the story of the lifecycle of romance, literally from the cradle to the grave, so, with this show, a director who knows a thing or two about delivering musical theatre, an experienced creative design team, and with a cast of superior vocalists and expert character actors, the new and improved Renton Civic Theatre not only made the safe choice to open back up with “I Love You…”, they made the right one.

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, directed by Mauro Bozzo, runs on stage at Renton Civic Theatre through March 2. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://rentoncivictheatre.org/.

Photo credit: Colin Madison Photography