The magnificent seven in York Light’s I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change: Sanna Jeppson, left, Mark Simmonds, Monica Frost, Emily Hardy, James Horsman, Emma Dickinson and Richard Bayton. All pictures: Matthew Kitchen Photography
LOVELY show to finish off York Light’s 70th anniversary. Something a little different. All about love. That adds up to three reasons espoused by director Neil Wood to see the American musical comedy with the tripartite title.
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change has its place in musical history as the second longest-running off-Broadway musical revue, premiered by the American Stage Company in 1996.
Now it swaps New York for York while retaining its American accents for 20 vignettes of universal resonance, each delving into a different aspect of love and relationships, their joys and their challenges.
Those vignettes, humorous, honest, heartfelt, heartwarming and heartbreaking, are full of life, lust and love’s labours lost and found, charting the path from dating to marriage, parenthood to ageing.
Richard Bayton at the wheel, with passengers Emily Hardy, Monica Frost and Mark Simmonds in the On The Highway Of Love vignette
Writer and lyricist Joe DiPietro and composer Jimmy Roberts bring momentum, mischief, romance, frankness, sauce, familiarity, delight, jaw-dropping awkwardness, pathos and passion, surprise and shock, to savvy, soulful, sweet, sour, salacious scenes ranging in length from five to eight minutes, diverse in style, tone and content.
Updated in 2018 to reflect changing times and fads, some take the form of dialogue or a monologue; some are songs; others combine the two. Like a taster menu, there is always another juicy morsel coming along to savour in each 55-minute half.
On an end-on stage with tables and chairs on one side, a sofa bed on the other, those vignettes are in the hands of a cast of seven – spreading the roles wider than the original production’s quartet of actors – and each of York Light’s magnificent seven takes on at least six parts, some as many as eight.
Neil Wood, directing York Light for the first time, put his company through Laban technique rehearsals to settle on characterisation and movement, giving each scene due weight with an emphasis on exposing the vulnerability in so many of the lovers’ tales.
He is rewarded with performances that are truthful and comedic, moving and candid, playing to both individual and collective strengths in a whirl of costume and character changes relished by Richard Bayton, Emma Dickinson, Mark Simmonds and especially the chameleon Sanna Jeppsson and James Horsman.
Mark Simmonds in Whatever Happened To Baby’s Parents?
Look out for Jeppsson’s arthritic hands when playing an old woman discussing love in a funeral parlour opposite Horsman in arguably the most affecting vignette, Funerals Are For Dating.
Emily Hardy and Monica Frost graduate from the York Light ranks to principal roles for the first time, Frost being particularly impressive, whether in the country pastiche Always A Bridesmaid or her confessional online dating monologue, The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz.
Not since Lloyd Webber and Rice’s Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat in their fledgling days has a musical pulled off so many pastiches, from country weepie to Luther Vandross soul, Ratpack smoothie to boastful rap, power balladry to Lloyd Webber and Rice themselves, demanding much of keyboardist Martin Lay’s resourceful band (with Rosie Morris on bass, Katie Maloney on reeds and Jez Smith on drums).
Billed as “riotous, rude and relevant”, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is indeed those three Rs, but it is also real, relatable and richly rewarding. We’ve all been there, done that, now watch love’s highs and woes from the safety of a ringside seat. You will laugh, you will cringe, you may well cry too.
Performances: Tonight (Thursday) and Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Emily Hardy’s bride, James Horsman’s groom and Sanna Jeppsson’s priest in Wedding Vows
York Light Opera Company’s Emma Dickinson, left, Richard Bayton, Monica Frost and Mark Simmonds in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography
RIOTOUS, rude and oh-so relevant, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change promises shocks and surprises plus character and costume changes galore in York Light Opera Company’s hands from tonight.
Writer Joe DiPietro and composer Jimmy Roberts’ off-Broadway musical comedy is directed by Neil Wood at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, in its 2018 updated revamp in a witty look at how we love, date and handle relationships.
Guiding love’s path through a series of comedic and poignant vignettes will be Richard Bayton, Emma Dickinson, James Horsman, Sanna Jeppsson, Mark Simmonds and Monica Frost and Emily Hardy in their first principal roles for York Light, as love lives are reflected in art, up close and personal.
“It holds the record as the second longest-running revue staged off-Broadway,” says Neil. “Originally it was done with a cast of four, but we decided to double it to eight to be able to swap things around, and when one cast member dropped out, we stuck to seven.
“We did the first read-through and sing-through in April, so it’s a quick turnaround for a show, but we’ve still had the time to explore a lot of multi-role playing. Some of the cast are playing as many as eight characters, so we did some Laban technique workshops, looking at how characters are created, getting inside them and how the actors move.”
Richard Bayton and Emily Hardy, front, with Monica Frost and Mark Simmonds rehearsing On The Highway To Love
His first step as the director was to find the world depicted in the show’s 20 vignettes. “Then you must find the key thing within each scene; those moments that are poignant; those moments that are the turning point for a character.
“To do that, we had a really rigid rehearsal timescale with only two scenes per night, to really explore each scene, one running to eight minutes, the others to five or six minutes. It’s not a sung-through musical; some scenes are purely dialogue; some scenes are just a song; others are a mix of dialogue and song.
“Those songs vary in style from a Luther Vandross-style soul number to a country music song and a Rat Pack-style number.”
In her York Light debut after performing for Pick Me Up Theatre and York Stage, Swedish-born Sanna Jeppsson will be playing eight roles. “They vary from young and bold to old and experienced; shy and timid to a downtrodden housewife; a happy single woman to a sporty type – a tennis player, though the only thing I do for that is carry a tennis racket!” she says.
“It’s a fantastic array of characters in a show that has such a variety of scenes that can be real or twist reality in others, where you can go more crazy with a character.”
James Horsman and Sanna Jeppsson rehearsing the scene where two old people in a funeral parlour discuss love’s labours lost and found
Neil chips in: “That’s when you have to decide whether a scene is naturalistic or you can break the fourth wall and be very Brechtian, grabbing the audience by the hand or talking directly to them.
“I’ve been really impressed with what the cast has done in making 3D characters. Once you’ve created a scene, you can develop those characters and they have to be true. As well as their physicality, you need to find their vulnerability.
“That’s a key thing we’ve worked on: the intimacy of the scenes where you’re almost a voyeur into people’s most vulnerable moments.”
Last seen on stage leading York Light’s cast in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, Neil is enjoying pulling the strings from the director’s chair. “When we get into Theatre@41, half the fun will be the quick changes, with some full costume changes in only 30 seconds to the accompaniment of scene-change music,” he says.
“The show is split into two 55-minute halves with a 20-minute interval, and the joy for the audience is that everyone will see relationships on stage that they recognise or have been in themselves.
Sanna Jeppsson, left, Emily Hardy, Monica Frost, Richard Bayton, Mark Simmonds and James Horsman in York Light Opera Company’s rehearsal room
“It’s laugh-out-loud funny, a show where you will come out beaming from ear to ear – and you don’t have to think too hard either!”
For Sanna, the rehearsal process has contrasted with her past productions in York. “That’s because this show is so episodic, so it’s almost felt like a different play at each rehearsal, which has been fun as an actor,” she says. “Now it’ll be fascinating to see what kind of reaction we’ll get from the audience, as we bring all those scenes together.
“I’ve been there most nights, where we’ve rehearsed two scenes a night, and it hasn’t felt frantic at all, just enjoying developing new scenes at each rehearsal.”
Neil adds: “We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to do it episodically, with the majority of the rehearsals being done chronologically, which has helped the cast.”
He savours the accumulative impact of the 20 vignettes. “It’s not just 20 one-act plays, but real people, real amotions, real life, and it’s our job to make each scene as realistic as possible; to find the truth of these people,” he says.
“What I love about Joe DiPietro’s writing is that you definitely get every character’s viewpoint in each scene. He’s very clever at doing that.
Emma Harrison, left, Sanna Jeppsson, Emily Hardy and Monica Frost in a music rehearsal for I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
“In the updated version, there’s been a gender swap in the Two Franks scene, and if there’s one scene that’s a caricature, it’s that scene, but then the reality comes through.”
Neil believes he has come up trumps in finding a cast able to play multiple roles. Sanna, in turn, is thrilled to be taking on that challenge. “I’ve had my eyes on this show for many years, waiting for this opportunity after first hearing about it when I was training in London in 2013/2014,” she says.
“I thought, ‘I’d love to do a show with all these characters parts’, and now the chance has come. It’s everything I imagined it would be – and more. It’s been a joy to work on because the script is really good, the songs are really good…and the director is really good, obviously!”
Sanna will be playing characters ranging in age from 25 to 75, and as she added each new one in rehearsal, she found she could not decide on a favourite. She does, however, then highlight her scene with James Horsman, where they play two old people discussing love in a funeral parlour.
“It’s such a beautifully written scene that says so much with such carefully chosen words,” she says.
Sanna Jeppsson and Richard Bayton in a reflective moment during York Light’s rehearsals
Neil picks out Monica’s closing second-half monologue. “It’s set around online dating and that thing of what we want people to see, rather than who we are, and yet then she realises her true story is far more fascinating,” he says.
Twenty vignettes with so many characters call for a diversity of American accents. “I don’t think it would work if you were to transfer it to Yorkshire or France, but you can place it anywhere in America. Some of the scenes are very American,” says Neil.
“The rhythms of the language scream American,” says Sanna. “Though I did read that it has been translated into a number of languages and it’s been done with Australian accents, but not with British ones.”
“The country song, Always A Bridesmaid, needs to be sung in a Tammy Wynette style,” reemphasises Neil.
As opening night arrives, he concludes: “This is a lovely show to finish off York Light’s 70th anniversary, something a little different, all about love.”
York Light Opera Company in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight (27/6/2023) until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee.Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Opera singer Jennifer Coleman: Soprano soloist on song at York Proms
PROMS, outdoor festivals and carnivals, here comes the sun and summer fun as Charles Hutchinson reaches for the cream.
Outdoor event of the weekend: York Proms, Museum Gardens, York, Sunday, gates open at 5pm
BRITISH-IRISH soprano Jennifer Colemen, Opera North tenor Tom Smith and West End musical theatre singer, actress and TV presenter Shona Lindsay will be the soloists for Sunday’s York Proms.
Musical director Ben Crick conducts the 22-piece Yorkshire Festival Orchestra in a musical theatre tribute, from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and Bernstein and Sondheim’s West Side Story through to Les Miserables and Wicked. The rousing Proms finale will be accompanied by The Fireworkers’ fireworks. Tickets update: sold out; waiting list for returns at yorkproms.com/contact.
Tom Smith: Tenor soloist at Sunday’s York Proms
Shakespeare Shorts: Twelfth Night, Barley Hall Great Hall, Coffee Yard, York, today, on the hour, every hour, from 11am to 3pm
SHAKESPEARE in only 15 minutes presents an immersive re-telling of Twelfth Night, the one with heaps of mistaken identities, cross-dressing and long-lost siblings.
Barley Hall’s costumed storyteller promises to “make simple a story that has even the characters confused, all while exploring themes of gender identity and the history of cross-dressing in theatre”. Barley Hall admission: barleyhall.co.uk.
Shakespeare Shorts: The artwork for the 15-minute Twelfth Night at Barley Hall
Strensall Community Carnival, Strensall Village Hall and Field, Northfields, Strensall, York, today, 12 noon to 5pm
BACK for its 8th year, Strensall Community Carnival has attractions for all the family, with a procession from Hurst Hall, a food court, 30-plus charity and business stalls and entertainment on the outdoor arena.
Look out for Ebor Morris, The Cadet Band, York Karaoke DoJo, Dynamics Band and Generation Groove in the arena; the Robert Wilkinson School Choir and Band and Mark’s Magic Kingdom Puppet Show in the main hall, and the Captivating Creatures animal show, medieval mayhem with the Knights of the Wobbly Table storytellers, Messy Adventures sensory play and Generate Theatre drama games in the outdoor space.
The Grand Old Uke of York: “Almost unplugged” at Stillington
Uke over there: The Grand Old Uke of York, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK collective The Grand Old Uke of York grace the At The Mill stage in an unusual twist to their norm: turning their usual set list on its head to bring gorgeous, pared-back vocals, buttery harmonies and ukuleles played with summery vibes – rather than their usual rock mode – to the garden.
Formed more than ten years ago, they love nothing more than to transform expectations of the ukulele’s bounds. Tonight is a rare chance to see the dynamic group stripped back and “almost” unplugged. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/atthemill/925922
Party time: Just Josh celebrates a decade of entertaining children’s parties with a JoRo show
Big kid of the weekend: Josh Benson: Just Josh’s 10th Birthday Party!, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 4pm
AFTER a decade of doing other kids’ parties, York family entertainer, magician and pantomime silly billy Josh Benson has decided he should have his own bash.
Expect all Just Josh’s usual mix of daft comedy chaos, magic, juggling, balloons, dancing and games, plus extra-special surprises. “It’s the perfect Sunday afternoon treat for the whole family,” he says. “Yes, even Dad. It is Father’s Day after all!” Ticket update: last few on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
The poster for York Printmakers’ summer showcase at Blossom Street Gallery
Exhibition of the week: York Printmakers: A Showcase, Blossom Street Gallery, Blossom Street, York, until July 31, open Thursdays to Sundays
SIXTEEN York Printmakers members demonstrate techniques and printing processes that date back hundreds of years through to those that push the boundaries of contemporary practice, with laser-cut plates, digital elements and 3D techniques.
Taking part are: Harriette Rymer; Lyn Bailey; Bridget Hunt; Carrie Lyall; Patricia Ann Ruddle; Jane Dignum; Jo Rodwell; Lesley Shaw; Phill Jenkins; Sally Parkin; Emily Harvey; Gill Douglas; Becky Long-Smith; Vanessa Oo; Sandra Storey and Rachel Holborow.
Two women up a hillside with ashes stuck to their trouser leg”: Terrain Theatre in Helen at Theatre@41
New play of the week: Helen, staged by Terrain Theatre/Theatre 503 at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
HELEN is 40 when she loses her husband. Becca is 15 when her dad dies. Now it is only the two of them, what do they do next? From Maureen Lennon, the Hull-born writer of York Theatre Royal’s 2022 community play, The Coppergate Woman, comes Helen, a series of snapshots of their relationship’s joys and traumas, laughs and arguments over the next 40 years.
Presented by new northern company Terrain Theatre and directed by Tom Bellerby, this 85-minute play about love, death, grief, postnatal depression, eating disorders, alcoholism, dementia and cancer, and two women up a hillside with ashes stuck to their trouser leg, explores the thread that binds them together and the different ways they damage and save each other. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The poster for the return of Mrs. Brown Rides Again: Heading to Hull in October
Comedy booking of the week: Mrs. Brown Ride Again, Hull Bonus Arena, October 27, 7.30pm, and October 28, 2pm and 7.30pm
BRENDAN O’Carroll and Mrs. Brown’s Boys will be back on stage in their “classic play” Mrs. Brown Rides Again from August to November. The only Yorkshire shows of the ten-venue tour with the television cast will be at Hull Bonus Arena in late-October.
Written by and starring O’Carroll as the beloved “Mammy”, the play finds Agnes Brown and her dysfunctional family romping their way through what seems to be her last days at home. After hearing of a plot by her children to have her put into a home, Agnes decides to prove them wrong by displaying a new lease of life. Box office: bonusarenahull.com.
The Prodigy: “Full attack mode, double barrel” at Leeds First Direct Arena this autumn. Picture: Andrea Ripamonti
Gig announcement of the week: The Prodigy, Army Of The Ants Tour, Leeds First Direct Arena, November 18
THE Prodigy’s Liam Howlett and Maxim will play Leeds on night three of their seven-date autumn arena tour after a spring and summer run of international festival headline dates. Support will come from Soft Play, the British punk duo of Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman, formerly known as Slaves.
“Army Of The Ants is a calling to The Prodigy peoples,” says Howlett. “We’re comin’ back for u the only way we know, full attack mode, double barrel.” Box office: tix.to/TheProdigy
Soft Cell’s Dave Ball and Marc Almond: Headlining Let’s Rock Leeds
Recommended but general and VIP admission sold out already:Let’s Rock Leeds, Temple Newsam, Leeds, today, gates 11am; 10.30pm finish
HOMECOMING Leeds duo Soft Cell and OMD top the bill at this retro festival. Tony Hadley, Midge Ure, Stray Cats’ Slim Jim Phantom, The Farm, The Real Thing, Roland Gift, Heatwave and Hue & Cry play too. For any form of tickets left, head to: letsrockleeds.com.
In Focus: York Light Opera Company in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 27 to July 1
York Light Opera Company cast member Sanna Jeppsson
RIOTOUS, rude and relevant, Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts’s off-Broadway musical comedy I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change looks at how we love, date and handle relationships.
In a revamp of the original 1996 production, York Light Opera Company stage this witty hit show with a cast of seven under the direction of Neil Wood, fresh from his menacing Sweeney in Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. Martin Lay provides the musical direction for the two 7.30pm peformances and 2.30pm Saturday matinee.
Noted for its insights into human nature and catchy-as-a-Venus-flytrap songs, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change explores the joys and challenges of love in songs that chart the heart’s path from dating to marriage to divorce.
Guiding audiences through a series of comedic and poignant vignettes will be Richard Bayton, Emma Dickinson, Monica Frost, Emily Hardy, James Horsman, Sanna Jeppsson and Mark Simmonds.
Cue shocks, surprises and songs aplenty as our love lives are reflected in art, up close and personal. Box Office tickets.41monkgate.co.uk
The poster for York Light Opera Company’s I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
