'I Love You' explores stages of relationships

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
So laments one of the many characters who explore the state of their relationships — or lack thereof — in the hit comedy "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change."
"It explores what people go through early in life all the way up through their second time around. Elderly people who have raised their children and lost their first spouse," Director Bernie Weiler said. "So it's really a very interesting study of relationships. It's funny, at many times poignant, many times very heart-warming. And it flies by. It's a lot of fun."
The award-winning musical runs April 6-29 at Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. Sundays.

"It's ideal for the Steel Beam space, because these characters, they move very quickly, and they change," Weiler said. "But because the space is so intimate, you really relate to the actors and the characters that they're portraying. They're right up there with you."
The characters' stories are presented as a series of vignettes, many of which explore how relationships form.
"The first date where people are doubting whether or not they're worthy of their partner. There's four actors getting ready to go on their first date and all of the anxiety that happens," Weiler said. "There's a scene in which women are extraordinarily frustrated by the lack of available, interesting men who worthy of their time. They sing a song called 'Single Man Drought.'"
The musical in two acts runs a little more than 90 minutes, and is appropriate for high school age and older, he said. Six actors portray more than two dozen characters. They play multiple ages, multiple characteristics, dispositions and multiple voices.

"The show can be done with any number of actors. Many times it's done with four actors, and those four actors play about 30 different characters," Weiler said. "There are scenes in which these characters encounter the difficulties and awkwardness and challenges of relationships.
"We have chosen to do it with six different actors — three men and three women — for a number of reasons. The most important reason is there were six extraordinarily talented actors available to do this. The harmonies in the music are really, really well written, so with six voices, it becomes very, very rich. So the music is really sensational with the voices that we have."
The musical starts at the beginning of time and moves very rapidly to an era that you would recognize, to things that are occurring today, he said.
"It's just funny and fun. It's something where everyone is going to recognize themselves in at least one of the scenes," Weiler said. "One of the characters wonders: 'Will I impress, and will I strike gold? Will this be a waste of time and am I getting old?' All of the possibilities that can occur in a first date are explored in a single song.
"It goes from young people on a first date to a married couple managing a car ride with their four children, to couples that have become so accustomed to being married that it causes the man to wonder 'shouldn't I be less in love with you, after all of these years?'" he said. "It's a very thoughtful, heart-rendering, beautiful song."