| Site | NODA |
| Date | 30th Nov 2024 |
|---|---|
| Society | Hayling Musical Society |
| Venue | The Station Theatre, Hayling Island |
| Type of Production | Musical |
| Director | Rhian Gardner-Roberts |
| Musical Director | Louise Helyer |
| Choreographer | Rhian Gardner-Roberts |
| Reviewer | NODA |
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change! is an amazing show – well, not a show in the traditional sense with a cast of characters and a story running all the way through, but a series of vignettes connected only by the themes of love and relationships, which everyone in the audience who’s experienced a bit of life can identify with. The scenes are mostly independent of each other, but they progress in a fashion designed to suggest an overall arc to relationships throughout the course of one’s life. It’s quick fire, witty and romantic, sometimes a little sad, but it mostly made us laugh all the way through.
The show started in New York, becoming the second longest-running Off-Broadway musical, running for over 5,000 performances. It has travelled around the world and came to the UK in 1999, with a new production opening in Wolverhampton in July 2024 before running for a month at the Edinburgh Fringe, so we’re getting it on Hayling fresh off the press.
Although the original production had just four actors, Director Rhian Gardner-Roberts has sensibly expanded this to sixteen, if only to save their sanity! Even so, the action is manic, changing scenes rapidly so a black stage, with just a raised platform at the back is ideal, with minimal amounts of furniture and props to set the scenes. Lee Stoddart’s sumptuous lighting created many different atmospheres and
Tom Davison’s sound was crystal clear throughout.
Hard-working MD Louise Helyer and her keyboard are on stage throughout the show providing all the music, which is catchy and memorable.
Rhian also devised the choreography which gave us beautifully interpreted set pieces featuring the whole cast, as well as smaller scenes which were equally impressive, such as “The Highway of Love” – an entire car journey made using just four office chairs. Costumes throughout (Maria Hammon) were kept simple with a central theme of dark shades of red with more specialist items, like a bride’s dress, where needed.
I won’t pick out individuals for particular praise – I’d have to include the whole cast and every scene, and I’m supposed to stick to 500 words. What I can say is that absolutely everyone was brilliant: pitch perfect singing, well-considered, nuanced acting and precise interpretation of the choreography. Faultless. Listening to the Director sitting next to me laughing throughout the show, even though she must have watched it countless times during rehearsals, meant that you were bringing something new to the show each time you performed it.
What I want to know is why this hasn’t been a huge success in the West End following its appearance at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe? Your production was stunning, I adored every scene and wished I’d been able to come back and watch it all over again. You are a very talented company, and we are very lucky that you can give us shows of this calibre so that we don’t need to go to the West End. Thank you!
