Wheaton Drama to kick off season with 'I Love You'

Anyone who has been in a romantic relationship can relate to the premise of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change."

The musical comedy that kicks off Wheaton Drama's 2009-10 season this weekend is about - you guessed it - love and relationships.

"It deals with a subject matter that every single human being can relate to," director Jack Smith said. "It's about how people throughout their years try to connect with each other."

"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" opens Friday at Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., in downtown Wheaton. Written by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts, the musical is composed of a series of vignettes, starting with first date anxieties and including the commitment of marriage and raising a family.

Keith deBolt and fellow actors Harrison Ashley, Heather Miller and Lisa Schmela each play as many as 15 different roles as they sing and sometimes dance through 19 scenes.

"One moment you are a depressed old man and the next time you are an obnoxious 11-year-old boy," said deBolt, a Naperville resident. "It runs the gamut."

While juggling so many personas is an acting challenge for the small cast, deBolt said there is a payoff for members of the audience.

"Between the different scenarios," deBolt said, "there's five or six where any couple in the audience is going to be elbowing each other and going, 'Honey, remember when you used to pull that on me?'"

Even deBolt experienced his own personal connection to several scenes and songs, including one song called "Shouldn't I Be Less In Love With You?"

"I have been married for 10 amazing years to a woman that I would marry again tomorrow," deBolt said. "So when I sing that song, it's kind of hard not to well up a little bit because that's my real life."

And while the musical has humor and exaggerated characters, there's also a great deal of compassion.

"It really points to what we go through as we struggle to find love, lock onto it and then try to make it work forever," deBolt said.

Smith said the musical was chosen to start Wheaton Drama's season in part because it's well-known and had a successful run off Broadway.

"Historically, ticket sales for the first show of the season have been a little weaker than the rest of the season," said Smith, a Lombard resident. "We needed a show with great name recognition."

The strategy appears to be paying off.

Smith said ticket sales have been "very brisk." He predicts that will continue once word-of-mouth gets out about the quality of the actors and their performances.

"I would encourage people who want to see it to get their tickets early," Smith said. "We have such an unbelievably strong cast that tickets to the final weekends may be a little tough to come by."

If you go

What: "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change"

Who: Staged by Wheaton Drama, Inc.

When: 8 p.m. Sept. 18-19, 24-26, Oct. 1-3, 8-10; 3 p.m. Sept. 20, 27, Oct. 4, 11

Where: Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton

Tickets: $21; $18 on Thursdays

Info: (630) 260-1820 or wheatondrama.org

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=321547">Director's cut: Inside 'I Love You, You're Perfect' <span class="date">[09/17/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>