FeedsI Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Long running Broadway production comes to Northville stage
Staff Writer
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Actors take a stab at the language of love, in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, presented at the Tipping Point Theatre in Northville. Lorenzo Toia, left, Courtney Myers, Stephanie L. Stephan and Chip Duford will take on the leading roles.The longest running off-Broadway musical is coming to downtown Northville.
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, will be the opening production of Tipping Point Theater.
The play uses a series of musical vignettes to catalogue different couples at courtship crossroads in an effort to debunk the myths behind the age-old battle of the sexes. Written by Joe Dipetro with music by Jimmy Roberts, Tipping Point Executive Director Christina Johnson said that the long-running success of the show boded well for audience favor, and said that the unique variety of the script guaranteed a love story everyone could relate to.
“We try to cater to everyone’s tastes,” Johnson said. “This is similar to a musical revue with a series of different stories. It traces different couples throughout their first date, through marriages, divorces and reconciliations. This is the longest running off-Broadway musical and it’s a real crowd pleaser. There’s something in it that everyone can relate to.”
Greg Trzaskoma, Detroit based actor and director, said that he was drawn to the lightheartedness of the script and that he looked forward to giving audiences an emotional roller coaster ride to remember.
“It’s a funny, funny show,” Trzaskoma said. “The opening number has an ancient feel, where the actors come out wearing hooded outfits and there’s kind of this Gregorian chant in the background. It’s this thing that’s been going on since time immemorial- men and women. What does it mean and how do we do this? It ranges from really broad Saturday Night Live style sketches and a pretty realistic style of acting. The funny stuff kind of gets audiences into a posture to relax- which is when the show hits you with something more serious. Hopefully, we’ll have audiences laughing and crying in the same night.”
The cast includes Tipping Point alum Courtney Myers, Chip Duford, Stephanie L. Stephan, and Lorenzo Toia, each charged with the task of bringing several characters to life, all while singing and dancing. Trzaskoma said that working on a musical tended to be more taxing then a “straight” play because there were simply more hands stirring the pot.
“Directing a musical is always a little more challenging, because you have a lot more cooks in the kitchen,” Trzaskoma said. “There’s the potential for brilliant things to happen and there’s the potential for someone to bump someone and spill something on your foot. So far, it’s been a happy kitchen.”
Trzaskoma, who’s acting chops include the direction of several well-received area musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof, said that he got the theater “bug” in second grade playing a disgruntled Santa Claus. Founder and artistic director of the Warren Civic Theater, Trzaskoma said that he still feels that community theater is our most accessible social round table, and a way to share ideas in a relaxed and relevant way.
“The theater is a great community forum,” Trzaskoma said. “You get together and exchange ideas- from the stage to the audience, the audience to the stage, and afterwards the audience to audience. The movie theater is a much more individual experience. You’re kind of by yourself with that big screen. The theater is much more of a conversation. You get that communal, group experience that I don’t know you can get anywhere else.”
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change will be presented Sept. 6- Oct. 12, with performances Thursday through Sunday. Tickets are $18- $28.
For more information or tickets contact (248) 347-0003, or visit www.tippingpointtheatre.org.
