Capping off their 100th year, Theatre Harrisburg brings us the off-Broadway romantic musical comedy “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” by Director Annette Trossbach and Assistant Director Becky Mease. This play is the most indulgent kind of brain candy, like eating a whole tub of Jelly Bellies in your jammies in front of the TV on a Friday night. (Never mind what night I’m writing this review, or what I’m stuffing into my face, either.)
This playful comedy is perfect accompaniment for whatever guilty pleasure you like to binge on weekends. After a tough week of problem solving and decision-making, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” demands nothing of you. You won’t find any complicated plot points or story arc to track, no complex characters to analyze, and no matter where you are in your own love story, you’ll find every vignette in the play relatable to your own story in some way.
Dramaturg Frederick D. Miller hinted that “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” would bring other love stories to mind. With its candy-like texture, I found myself bonding with many of the vignettes. I couldn’t help thinking of my own husband – known as “Poor George” in our circles – and our recent 25th anniversary celebration. The play’s most connectable scenarios are hilariously human, composed of the random, un-glamourous stuff of life, with days swirling around kids’ needs, unwanted hair removal, and keeping score on whose turn it is to mow the lawn or change a diaper…