I'm Perfect, I'll Change You, That's Love!

Review by Angie Bedford
Interview: Julia Roper - Director

I'm Perfect, I'll Change You, That's Love! is the brainchild of director Julia Roper and musical director Vicki Barden; a variety of musical numbers designed to take the audience on "a journey through the different views of relationships trying to discover the key to success".

The production was created as a fundraiser and teaser for PEP Productions' upcoming season of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.

With such a broad topic, the team would have had a wealth of songs to choose from. The playlist was a nice balance of up-tempo ditties and ballads made up of mainly musical theatre, pop and jazz standards.

Whilst an overall entertaining evening, I found the concept confusing, with inconsistencies.

A variety show can simply show and tell disconnected songs, or attempt to perform the songs out of their original context, sometimes with a fresh connection between the pieces.

Whilst I felt the latter was the intention, it was not always entirely clear.

For the first part of Act One, I found that the songs were performed as their own individual stories, but later in the Act dialogue between some songs provided a segue into the next piece.

This continued throughout Act Two, where sometimes a connection was clear, at other times, not at all.

There was also a mix of accents – Australian, American and even German (Two Ladies). A consistent accent (perhaps neutral) throughout would have given the various issues and topics a blank canvas, free from distinct connections to their original staging, and exploring the universality of relationships.

The overall concept of the show had some really good potential, but a few things inhibited the flow of the production.

Firstly, the ambiguous setting.

The small stage featured a number of props and seating including bean bags, a bar and a coat rack. As props and settings were added for some particular songs (such as an ironing board, or an armchair), I could only assume that there wasn't meant to be a common situation and location that hosted the songs.

You really get the felling that perhaps the production would have been more effective with a fixed set, or better yet a nice plain stage, adding sets only when needed.

For many of the songs, the entire cast remained on stage, even if it was a duet. In the small space, already filled with sets, it was very distracting to have such a large number of performers sitting around the main action, sometimes laughing along with the audience. This could have worked if the situation had been constant – for example, if everyone was in a bar and maintained one character – but their function wasn't clear.

The costumes were made up of contemporary free dress, with a few exceptions such as Lollipop which featured the company in distinctive colourful childlike costumes, but overall there was no evident design or intent.

In the intimacy of the Doncaster Playhouse, it might have been more effective to keep the stage and costuming as basic as possible so the audience could focus on the performers and the stories they were telling.

That said, the eleven strong cast performed fantastically. The small team had twenty four songs to get through, some cast performing solos numerous times - it was a credit to all involved.

Glen Barnett, as one of three males, showed great variety in a number roles – sometimes scorned admirer (in the sweet Notice Me, Caitlyn), other times sexually frustrated (Dressing Room Shuffle) or hung up on an ex (But I Don't Want to Talk About Her).

Krystal Shute also shone, with a truly pleasant voice and engaging demeanour throughout the show. 

Kate Burns really knew when to play up a part, especially in trickier numbers such as An Old Fashioned Love Story and Getting Married Today. In the latter, Felicity Eastwood - Tromp's versatile voice stood out in the choirgirl solo, she also delivered a classic show stopper with Arthur in the Afternoon.

The performers also seemed to really enjoy the ensemble numbers – you could tell they loved a big sing!

Barden had the cast well controlled, particularly in the crisp Prologue / Cantata and in the A Cappella The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. The final songs, I Love You Because and Heart and Music had some sweet harmonies and an overall great energy.
 
The cast were well supported by the onstage band, comprising of two keyboards and percussion, conducted by Barden. However, whilst the volume of the band was well controlled, I did long for amplification, as sometimes a naked voice is just not strong enough, even in a small venue!

I'm Perfect, I'll Change You, That's Love! featured a cast of strong performers and a great range of songs. The production would have perhaps benefited by stripping back the accessories and new scripting in favour of focusing on the diverse experiences and emotions revealed by the music itself.

That said, I look forward to PEP's I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change next year.

3 out of 5

I'm Perfect, I'll Change You, That's Love!
Presented By: PEP Productions
Venue: Doncaster Playhouse
Musical Directior: Vicki Barden
Choreography: Tamara Finch
Director: Julia Roper
Official Website: PEP Productions