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TWO men and two women send sparks flying in Manoa Valley Theatre's season opener "I Love You, You're Perfect ... Now Change." Through multiple characters and couplings, the musical explores the depth and breadth of the love experience, from meeting cute, to dating, to marriage, having kids and growing old together. Oh, what they’d
Review: Spirited fun
do for loveBy Nadine Kam
Star-BulletinJust so we know they're qualified for their roles, we asked the versatile cast to share all they know about love and relationships.
Zenia Zambrano
Relationship status: SingleWhat I'd do for love: Anything
Best relationship advice: Be yourself. Don't try to impress the other person by being someone you're not.
What attracted you to the script: I read the audition notice and read clips. One quote said it was "Seinfeld" set to music and I love "Seinfeld"; it's so quirky. And there's so many characters; it's great to do all that in one production.
Favorite scene: A date with a really obnoxious guy. We've all been there so it was really easy to do that. It's called "Single Man Drought."
Could Greg Howell relate to being that obnoxious guy? I don't know. You've gotta ask him, but he does it really well.
Katie Shriver
Relationship status: SingleWhat I'd do for love: I've moved six times, given up jobs that I've liked, taken on jobs I didn't like. You'll do anything. Compromises and sacrifices pay off. If the love is real, it's worth it.
Best relationship advice: Don't lower your standards. Don't compromise who you are. Be honest and genuine.
What attracted you to the script: The soundtrack was hilarious. The fact that there was a small cast also means you get to be featured.
Favorite scene: A girl is waiting for a phone call from a date who said he'd call today, but of course guys never call when they say they will. They'll call the next day or in a week and a half. But he calls and she starts singing, "He called me, a guy that I am dating really called me. Am I hallucinating, he called me." Her mom is on the phone singing, "Oh honey I heard the news," and the pizza guys all get involved. It's the most cheeseball musical theater.
Andrew Meader
Relationship status: I have a girlfriend.What I'd do for love: Anything. I've embarrassed myself so many times. Love is something we all yearn for, so when you meet someone you'd stop at nothing to get them. When I was in college in Connecticut, I took this woman to New York City for a day, we did Broadway, the whole bit with the limo. She knew what was going on but after all that, she said she wasn't interested. She just wanted the trip to New York.
Best relationship advice: Think twice before saying her name so you don't use the wrong name.
What attracted you to the script: When it opened, my friends saw it in New York and they were laughing, talking about it. The title alone is enough to get you interested. I bought the CD and when I heard Manoa was doing it I had to try.
Favorite scene: "The Waiting Trio." There's three characters. One woman is waiting for her husband who's watching a football game. One woman's waiting to pee. And there's a man who's shopping with his significant other and has to carry her purse.
Been there, done that? It's no fun.
Why do women make men carry their purses? It's their way of saying "he's taken, he's mine and look how good he is, he's carrying my purse." Meanwhile other guys are looking at that and thinking, "Sucker, she's got you whipped."
Do you have an option? No. If you don't do it, it just starts a fight you don't need to have.
Greg Howell
Relationship status: Amicable mid-dissolveWhat I'd do for love: I've done far too many stupid things. Before I'd do it again, I'd think things out. See, I'm much older than the other cast members. I could be their father. I've been through the ringer and I'm still standing.
Best relationship advice: Ask for what you want. Never undervalue your own worth.
What percentage of the time can you expect to get what you ask for? Relationships are about compromise; I think if you can get what you want 75 percent of the time, that seems like a fair deal.
What attracted you to the script: The sense of humor, the cleverness of the music and a chance to play so many different characters. It's a real challenge, but it's fun.
Favorite scene: Probably the Tear-Jerk Scene between Andrew and Zenia. There's this macho stud who only wants to watch Arnold Schwarzenneger and action movies and he goes to the movies with his girlfriend, a chick flick, and by the end of the movie he's bawling.
Is this anti-"chick flick" reflex simply fear of tears then? Absolutely. It opens all the doors to expressing our emotions publicly and we're afraid we'll lose face with women. That's changing, but men still think they have to hold on to this caveman machismo.
Zenia said you're exceptional in the role of the obnoxious date guy. Did your motivation come from experience? Undoubtedly. I've been that guy trying too hard, trying to be what I think the other person wants me to be. I'm way past that now.
IS it worse to be single and dating or to be locked in the bonds of matrimony? Director Linda Johnson and a tight-knit ensemble explore the question with great results as Manoa Valley Theatre opens the season with "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." This modern musical comedy is witty, mainstream and consistently entertaining. Search for one and
only witty, spirited funBy John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinPlaywright Joe DePietro dissects random aspects of the search for love, companionship and (possibly) sex in contemporary America. He begins with the dating single's conundrum of trying to decide whether to be honest or project an phony image. He follows the dating game all the way to the senior single's expedient of trolling funerals for prospects.
Johnson and her appealing quartet, Greg Howell, Andrew Meader, Katie Shriver and Zenia Zambrano, give DiPietro's wry humor a chance to hit by not overplaying it. So it is that Zambrano's poignant solo spot, "The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz" isn't out of place among such dating-hell vignettes as "Cantata For A First Date," "Men Who Talk And The Women Who Pretend They're Listening" and "Why? 'Cause I'm A Guy."
Balance is also the key as Howell and Shriver star in "The Lasagna Incident." The comic sketch about a couple's awkward drift toward intimacy segues smoothly into an expansive yet tender solo number for Shriver as she exults "I Will Be Loved Tonight."
Meader and Zambrano do great comic character work as nerds who discover it may be OK to not be a stud and a babe in "A Stud And A Babe."
"Scared Straight" parodies the well-known prison program with a scenario in which incompatible singles are "scared straight to the altar" with tales of what it's like to grow old alone. Another memorable segment, "Satisfaction Guaranteed," is a mock commercial for an insurance policy covering disappointing sex partners.
Karen Brilliand (costume design) does a great job coming up with strange clothes and odd wigs. She is particularly resourceful on Howell's behalf. He morphs into several distinct characters.
Musical Director Mary Chesnut's two-piece orchestra likewise does well with Jimmy Robert's musical score (she plays cello; Phil Hidalgo plays piano). Shriver's "Always A Bridesmaid" lament was a highlight but every song adds entertainment value here. Gratuitous local references add nothing to the show.
REVIEW
"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change": At Manoa Valley Theatre. Shows 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 24. Tickets: $28. Call 988-6131.
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