I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

Keizer Homegrown Theatre                 

March 20, 2014 (Opening Night)

Keizer Homegrown Theatre launches its third season with a romp through the absurdity of modern dating.

The play, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Book & Lyrics by Joe DePietro, Music by Jimmy Roberts) is a modern crowd pleaser. It played an amazing 5000 performances in its initial off-Broadway run starting in 1996, and most recently appeared locally at the Broadway Rose Theatre in Tigard in Jan–Feb 2013. As such, every scene and musical number is tested and solid.

There is no plot, per se, just a series of vignettes on the theme of relationships and courtship, progressing from young couples through marriage, parenthood, and divorce. There is no deep philosophy here, or politics. It is a vive la difference! comedy in which men and women (all decidedly hetero) take and give their licks equally. The play provides a few moments of real tenderness, but their scarcity leaves one wanting more. It is a good night out, a fun play for a date (or a married couple’s date night). 

Keizer Homegrown makes use of its familiar home in the Keizer Civic Center, again converting a conference room into a found-space stage. The set is functional, with simple masking flats, parquet floor, light trees, and risers. What the space lacks in technical sophistication is more than made up for by its intimacy. There are no chin microphones here. The performance is real and immediate, with performers close enough to touch you or look you in the eye (and they do, from time to time).

The cast of four women and four men is a true ensemble, with some familiar faces, although most are new to Keizer. No one in the cast is an Adele, but each singer has his or her moment. Stand out vocal performances come from Carol Adams and Taylor Pawley, and kudos are also deserved for the rendition of “Always a Bridesmaid.” The most touching spoken exchange takes place between Carol Adams and Michael Swanson in a scene called “Funerals are for Dating.”

Director Laura Reid makes good use of the space and keeps the action moving smoothly. Reid adds a bit of local color to the dialog, which is a nice touch.

What this production wants is a full house. Opening night garnered a modest audience of 28 on a Thursday night, but a production like this needs the energy of ears and bodies to truly come alive. This show is fun and funny, and the performances are solid. See it if you can. 

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening

Western Oregon University Theatre

April 8, 2014

Western Oregon University’s production of Spring Awakening brings to life a fable of adolescent turmoil both timeless and explicitly modern.

Based on the 1891 play by German playwright Frank Wedekind, this modern musical adaption by Duncan Sheik (Music) and Steven Sater (Books & Lyrics) garnered eight Tony Awards when it premiered in 2006. The play depicts a collage of stories focused around a boys’ secondary school, but primarily follows Melchior Gabor and his romance with Wendla, teen rebels determined to follow their burgeoning desires in a repressive culture. Unfortunately, their puritanical parents and teachers have denied them the slightest knowledge of the consequences of their sexual awakening, leading to tragedy for the young lovers.

The setting is historic, but each scene of dialog alternates with a rock number that is entirely contemporary, an anachronism that insists that the problems these young people face are essentially modern, or perhaps universal. Indeed, the issues of school pressure, domestic violence, sexual shaming and misinformation, early and experimental sex—and all that such sex results in—are familiar. The real menace, as the program note highlights, is the mortal danger of denying sexual education at even the most basic level.

The play’s content was enough to ban the work when first written. Today, masturbation and homosexuality no longer shock, but don’t bring the kids. As the warning label states, the language (and on stage action) is explicit.

Overall, the production is excellent, and closing night earned an enthusiastic and well-deserved standing ovation.

Director Michael Phillips seats several audience members on stage, flanking the action, reinforcing the idea that these young people are constantly watched—and judged—by the adults around them. The scenic design by Scott Grim consists of a back drop of brick walls painted from bottom to top with admonitions against “MORAL CORRUPTION” and “CREEPING SENSUALITY.” But amidst the painted messages are the outlines of trees: Spring (and sexuality) cannot be stopped.

The lighting design, while quietly unobtrusive in most productions, stands out. The playing space is saturated with a mist that allows every cone of light to be seen. In dialogue scenes, the mist becomes a hazy film over the past. During musical numbers, the youth belt out their lyrics beneath dynamic shafts of blue and red and white. What first appear to be towers of speakers turn out to be scoop lights used to striking effect in the play’s strongest number, “Totally F****d,” a youth anthem superior to any in Rent.

Of course, in this Rock Musical, the singing is the highlight. The entire cast sings impassionedly, even if all the lyrics are not crystal clear. Lead actors Luke Armstrong (Melchior) and Amanda Norman (Wendla) carry the show, with standout performances from the tortured Mortiz (Feliciano Tencos-Garcia) and progressive Ilse (Lisa Rogers). WOU faculty Ruth Mandsager and David Janoviak play all of the adult characters, a nice bit of age appropriate casting.

The only disappointment in this production were the number of empty seats in the auditorium. At only twenty minutes from Salem, a production of this quality should have been sold out.