'I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change' at Walnut Street Theatre

Now that I’m no longer heavily invested in the dating game — does a profile on Match.com and a few first dates even count? — I watched the twists and turns of relationships in progress a bit wistfully, recognizing the eternal truths that men and women constantly seek each other but don’t quite fit together comfortably. It doesn’t take a representative from Jacoby & Myers & Masters & Johnson to tell me that relationships involve negotiation, and I’m not always good at that.

First encounters, it seems, are stressful at any age, whether at a restaurant or a funeral parlor, and there’s a flash of recognition that we’re not that different from those people on stage. In fact, some in the audience were so engaged in the show they couldn’t help but comment on what the characters were doing — remember that elderly aunt who used to talk to the TV screen and warn the characters what was coming? A stray “Oy vey” or “That’s just like you” could occasionally be heard whispered from the back of the theater.

Seeking, finding, missing

The first act is all about the dating game — how we find each other, miss each other. A first date that skips right to the end and the heartache of what was lost — “We Had It All” — follows the ups and downs of a relationship that was doomed from the start. We wait for phone calls, surprised when they come, we serve dinner with condoms and hope for the best. The show is basically optimistic. We are seeking connections with each other and, even if we have to be “scared straight to the altar” by a mass murderer who killed a bunch of happy couples yet still regrets that he hasn’t found "the one," we can find ways to make it work.

The second act enters marriage territory. Raising kids, family trips, TV sports versus communication — 32 seconds in football time is not the same as 32 seconds in real time — and the inevitable losses that come along with age and experience. It’s sad and serious and funny all at the same time.

The actors, familiar to Philly audiences, were adroit at moving from whiny young children to mature adults dealing with life’s changing circumstances. Fran Prisco’s comic timing brought to life the busy man on a date or the elderly gentleman seeking love at a funeral. Christopher Sutton, last seen as Buddy in Elf, used his expressive face and mobile body to go from a nerd who’d like to be a stud to a man amazed that’s he’s still in love. Ellie Mooney, who reminds me of a modern Lucille Ball, was desperate and determined all at the same time, and Lyn Philistine made us feel for the desperation of a newly divorced woman trying to start dating again.

The quick set (Glen Sears) and costume (Julia Poiesz) changes created a sense of time and place against a miniature Philadelphia skyline. Movie theater seats, an upright bed, and plenty of dining tables quickly appeared and disappeared, while the actors went from slips to date dresses to wedding gowns and tuxedos with amazing speed. One of the highlights was four office chairs linked together as a moving automobile. It had the sense of a demented roller derby with those in the front seats clearly watching their toes.

Although a modern cell phone appeared in one of the skits, many of the cultural references were from an earlier era and probably need to be updated. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Liz Taylor, and Mary Tyler Moore are no longer the icons they once were. Does anyone see Arnold as a paragon of strength and virility (at least without considering his recent history)? Marlo Thomas is no longer "that girl," she’s a spokeswoman for St. Jude who is currently "reinventing herself." A few rhymes may need to be sacrificed along the way, but the enduring truths of relationships will keep the show going as long as men and women still have trouble figuring out how to live together.