Laguna Playhouse invites fans of theater — and love — back for more
A century-old home for theatrical performance will bring to the stage a play with a message that has also stood the test of time.
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” returns to Laguna Playhouse next week, a production those associated with the venue say was a great success with the local community almost a quarter century ago.
“Being able to do this show, which I think might have been the biggest hit the playhouse ever had back in 1998, it just seemed right for what we’re calling our centennial season,” said Ellen Richard, producing artistic director of the playhouse.
Robbed of its true centennial celebration by the COVID-19 pandemic, the playhouse held its 100th anniversary gala virtually.
After having its doors shut for 17 months, the playhouse welcomed theater fans back to enjoy the performing arts in October. While it is customary to tell an actor to “break a leg” to wish them good luck, it might be best to hold one’s breath in the hope the meddlesome coronavirus won’t usher in another unscheduled intermission.
“It was challenging to reopen with trying to figure out what all of our COVID protocols are going to be and getting the building ready for reopening,” Richard said. “We put in all new HVAC equipment, we redid all of the restrooms — we upgraded and expanded the restrooms — and just everything else that went along with trying to make the audience feel as safe as possible.
“I’d say most theater executives would say, ‘We never thought we’d need help to learn how to do this stuff,’” she continued. “There’s always surprises in life, but this was a big curve.”
A four-actor play, the cast of John Adkison, MaryAnn DiPietro, Danny Crowe and Alison Nusbaum will bring to life the long and winding road that is dating and relationships in a satirical and uproarious production.
Wednesday’s rehearsal revealed how the show will tap into the real-life experiences of the audience. The rules of engagement are on display, showcasing the tightrope act of trying to impress a date while keeping one’s baggage in check, and of course, the internal monologues of dealing with one’s insecurities.
The small cast calls on all of the actors to take on leading roles, as well as a variety of characters. DiPietro said the parts she plays include a potential girlfriend on a date, a mother and a divorcee.
“The entire show is about relationships and love and dating and all of those various stages that every person goes through,” DiPietro said. “It is one of those shows that everyone in the audience will be able to relate to some character at some point in time in the show or some situation that’s being portrayed on stage.”
DiPietro, who studied music at Ohio State University, returns to the playhouse after previously being cast in shows like “The Buddy Holly Story,” “Footloose” and “Mamma Mia!”
“The community as a whole here is so arts-focused, whether it’s the visual arts or performing arts, and I think they just truly appreciate it,” DiPietro said. “It’s amazing as an actor to come into a community like that and have such a great experience and engagement with everyone.”
Opening night for “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” is Wednesday, April 20, and it will run through Sunday, May 8. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test is required to attend.
During the pandemic, director Paula Hammons Sloan was working in New Jersey, where she brought the playhouse’s upcoming production to the stage under a tent near the ocean. Nusbaum worked with Hammons Sloan for that stretch, too.
“It makes things go faster,” Hammons Sloan said of having Nusbaum in the current cast. “I knew everybody else. I had worked with them before, but it just makes things go faster by a quarter.”
The play had been in rehearsal for about a week leading up to Wednesday’s conversation with Hammons Sloan, who iterated she could not see herself retiring from doing what she loves. Other plays she has helped bring to Laguna Beach are “Footloose,” “Hairspray” and “All Shook Up.”
Hammons Sloan, who is teaming up with musical director Ricky Pope, says she’s grateful to have worked with talented people throughout a career in the performing arts that saw her start as a dancer and choreographer before becoming a director.
A song within the musical brings it all together for the director, boasting a theme befitting of a venue that has continued to endure through whatever it has faced the past 102 years. In love, the game is only lost when we stop trying.
“At the end of the play, there’s this song called ‘Keep Coming Back,’” Hammons Sloan said. “A lot of times, you go through a marriage, or you go through a breakup, and then you don’t want to get back out there … even though you really need or really yearn for companionship.
“I think the moral of the story is go after what you want, keep trying, keep going for it.”
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