One of the longest-running off-Broadway revues in history will be presented as a brand-new production by Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.
Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts’ I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change will be created in house at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre for eight exclusive performances between 16 – 20 July before playing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 2 – 24 August. Directed by Grand Theatre Associate Artistic Director Karl Steele, the production explores modern relationships in all their forms and will be presented in a way that audiences have never experienced a show at the Grand Theatre before.
Audiences will take their seat on the Grand Theatre stage for an intimate, immersive experience that has audiences right at the heart of the story. I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is played out against the backdrop of and using the theatre’s stunning auditorium space.
Karl Steele said: “Audiences will recognise the hilariously relatable annoyances that all relationships have and explore all the stages of relationships from those awkward first dates to falling in love and married life with kids.
“The story is intertwined with more tender and intimate moments too that make for one hugely entertaining musical that is both hilarious yet heartfelt. With such a personal and relatable subject matter, the key to creating the perfect experience in which to present this piece is in the immersive, up close and personal staging this production will feature.
“Sat on the 130-year-old stage at the Grand Theatre, our seating capacity of 1,200 is reduced to 150, with audiences experiencing what is ordinarily an actor’s eye view with scenes unfolding around them and against the backdrop of the glorious Victorian auditorium.” This celebration of the mating game takes on the truths and myths behind that contemporary conundrum known as “the relationship.”
Through sketches and songs, Act I explores the journey from dating and waiting to love and marriage, while Act II reveals the agonies and triumphs of in-laws and newborns, trips in the family car and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set. This hilarious revue pays tribute to those who have loved and lost, to those who have fallen on their face at the portal of romance, to those who have dared to ask, “Say, what are you doing Saturday night?”
Casting for I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change will be announced soon. Joe DiPietro (Book and Lyrics) has won two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. Broadway: Diana (also on Netflix), Nice Work If You Can Get It starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara (10 Tony nominations, including Best Book and Best Musical), Memphis (4 Tony Awards, including Best Book, Best Score and Best Musical), All Shook Up, Living on Love (starring Renee Fleming).
Off-Broadway: Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Off-Broadway Alliance Award - Best Musical), Clever Little Lies (starring Marlo Thomas), The Toxic Avenger (OCC Award - Best off-Broadway Musical), The Thing About Men (OCC Award - Best off-Broadway Musical), the much-produced comedy, Over the River and Through the Woods, as well I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (the longest-running musical revue in Off-Broadway history). His many regional credits include Conscience (George Street Playhouse), The Second Mrs. Wilson (Long Wharf Theatre), Chasing the Song (La Jolla Playhouse), The Last Romance (The Old Globe).
His musicals and plays have received thousands of productions across the country and around the world. Jimmy Roberts (Music) composed the music for I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, the longest-running Off-Broadway musical in New York theatre history. Written with playwright Joe DiPietro, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change received both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations as Best Musical when it opened in 1996.
It has since played in all 50 states as well as over 25 countries around the world. He also collaborated with Joe DiPietro on The Thing About Men (2003, New York Outer Critics Circle award for Best Musical). His latest musical, Welcome to the Big Dipper, written with Catherine Filloux and John Daggett, had several successful New York readings and is now on the way to a full production.
Jimmy's songs were featured in two other Off-Broadway shows: A…My Name Is Still Alice and Pets! His children's musical The Velveteen Rabbit toured the United States for well over a decade. Jimmy is also a sought-after performer.
In entertaining programs that combine classical and popular music, he has delighted audiences with his wit and his special way with song. Recent engagements include Merkin Concert Hall, the Time Warner Center, the 92nd Street Y, Steinway Hall and the National Arts Club. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with noted pianist Constance Keene, Jimmy Roberts is also a poet, and several of his poems have appeared in The New York Times.
Tickets for I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre are on sale to Friends of the Grand from Monday 25 March at 10am online at grandtheatre.co.uk, with public sales opening on Thursday 28 March at 10am online.
