Review: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Lambert Jackson Productions

Photo credit: Sophie Ross

With theatres and traditional stages still closed, the arts industry continues to work, adapt and innovate to ensure that the show goes on. The saying goes that “all the world’s a stage” and in a current world of Covid-19, lockdowns and restrictions, that stage is now the World Wide Web. We have become used to watching theatre on our computer screens and whilst it will never replace the thrill of live performance and the experience of sharing the joy with a full auditorium, it’s a pretty good alternative until that is possible again. In the most recent online offering from Lambert Jackson Productions, we are treated to a new digital production of the Off-Broadway hit I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, a musical comedy all about the highs and lows of dating, relationships and marriage.

The show opened Off-Broadway in 1996, playing over 5000 performances at the Westside Theatre. Since then, it has enjoyed runs all over the world. It is formed of a series of short individual scenes, each centred around a different point in a relationship and/or lifetime; be that a first date, a married couple desperate for some time together, a couple changed by parenthood, a bridesmaid wishing to be the bride or an older couple discovering romance after the deaths of their first partners.

Despite the fact that there are multiple characters, this musical is performed by a small cast of four. For this production, filmed at the London Coliseum, the cast include Alice Fearn, Brenda Edwards, Oliver Tompsett and Simon Lipkin. The four performers each get a chance to shine in both comical and more serious moments as they flit between different characters at the drop of a hat and showcase powerful vocals. A special congratulations must go to Simon Lipkin who joined the production at the last minute and learnt his roles in an afternoon, after Trevor Dion Nicholas sadly had to step away from the production.

Highlights include Alice Fearn’s performance of ‘Always A Bridesmaid’ and her heartfelt monologue as Rose making her first video dating tape, and Simon Lipkin’s comical portrayal of a man trying to hold it together and not cry whilst watching a chick flick with his date. Brenda Edwards also pulls at the heartstrings throughout in her more serious moments, whereby she portrays a tennis fan who manages to convince her sports partner to make a move on her in ‘I Will Be Loved Tonight’; whilst Oliver Tompsett adds a big dose of comedy as a gay father told that parenthood has massively changed him, plus a sweetness as a doting partner delighted that his relationship has lasted against the odds in ‘Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You’.

The book by Joe DiPietro creates relatable characters and moments in which the audience can say that they have experienced something similar, with realistic scenarios and characters that you can see parts of yourself in. Jimmy Roberts’ music is fun, catchy and memorable with a blend of ballads and high energy numbers. The filming of this digital production allows for a lot of the space in this beautiful large theatre to be used, and shots of the empty auditorium remind us all of what we are missing. Theatres and performance spaces crave an audience, crave the energy of a full auditorium and that buzz of excitement that comes with it.

This comical relatable musical is available to stream until 30 January, with tickets costing £17.25 including fees. Tickets are available here.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Rebecca Wallis

This review also features on the Musical Theatre Lives In Me blog.