REVIEW You'll love 'I Love You' for its humor

The play also has some poignant moments that are equally as entertaining.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
The Carousel Dinner Theater in Akron may be a bit of a drive for most people in the area, but their current production, "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" is well worth the trip. It is fast-paced and energetic, funny and the music is great. Written by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts, it premiered in 1996 and is off-Broadway's longest-running musical.
The show tells the story of love and sex in the modern age in a series of skits that move in a chronological progression from dating to mating, marriage and babies, divorce and funerals and everything in-between. The skits are not connected, and four cast members play all the different characters. They're mostly humorous, sometimes hysterical, often a little vulgar, and at times, downright tender. And while the situations are exaggerated, most can relate to real life.
The play begins as the two women (Jennifer Swiderski and Holly Davis) and two men (Gavin Esham and Mark Sanders) enter solemnly in monklike costumes, going back to the beginning of time, when man and woman were first created. But that's where the reverence ends, as Adam and Eve quickly realize the mess they'll be in, once they make a commitment as mates.
The next few songs deal with the awkwardness of dating. In "A Stud and a Babe," Davis and Sanders play a dorky couple who, for one split second, actually become attractive. In another scene, two couples sit in restaurants as their dates bore them to sleep. The girls lament the severe lack of available men as they sing "Single Man Drought." The guys gleefully respond with attributes that make them real men, such as belching, crusty bathtubs and disgusting kitchens, in "Why? 'Cause I'm a Guy."
Seriousness, too
In one of the more serious moments, Davis has just invited her tennis partner over for dinner and beautifully sings of her months of loneliness in "I Will Be Loved Tonight."
Parents get into the act when they think their son is going to finally announce his engagement to the woman he's been dating for two years, but instead he announces their breakup. The parents react with a comical and insulting song, "Hey There, Single Gal/Guy."
One of the funniest songs came in Act Two, as Swiderski sang, in a delightful country twang, about all her ugly bridesmaid dresses hanging in her closet that the moths won't even eat, in "Always a Bridesmaid." And the most serious moment also came in this act, as Davis, in a tearful monologue, created as she was being filmed for a "dating video," describes how her husband walked out on her and how her life just stopped. As she spoke into a camera, her close-up image was projected onto the curtains, creating a very real and touching change of pace to the silliness of the rest of the show.
The musical ended as two old widowed Jewish people meet at a wake, and neither really know whom the deceased is, or care, but he ends up hitting on her, and she goes for it, in charming skit on sex and old age. The curtain closed with the return of the four monks onstage.
Everything about this production was excellent and entertaining. The instrumental musicians were Angela Estes and Ryan Loekel, on keyboards and violin. As usual with the Carousel, the dining experience was superb.
XThis play contains adult language and situations, and is not intended for children. It runs through Feb. 25. There are no Monday performances, and there are matinees Saturdays and Wednesdays, in addition to evening performances. Sunday dining begins at 3 p.m. For more information, call (800) 362 4100.