Review: Like relationship in 'I Do! I Do!', this show's a bit rocky
By NANCY STETSON
"Marriage is a very good thing/Though it's far from easy," sings Lynn Mastio Rice at the end of "I Do! I Do!"
The classic musical about marriage just opened at the Naples Dinner Theatre, running through Oct. 23. And Rice's lyrics are a perfect summation of the show.
The two-person musical stars Rice as Agnes and local favorite (and the theater's assistant artistic director) Barry Marcus as her husband, Michael.
It starts with the two of them saying "I do" and follows them through the ups and downs and twists and turns of marriage.
Marcus has been outstanding in roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "The Pirates of Penzance" and "La Cage Aux Folles," where he's played larger-than-life characters, but this musical isn't the best showcase for his talents. Though Rice is impish and winsome, I kept wishing for more characters for Marcus to act off of.
The musical has a slow beginning and the relationship seems stilted, like the kind of marriages portrayed on '50s TV sit-coms. Rather than coming across like actual people, the two seem more like vehicles for the playwright and lyricist to present their ideas.
Things don't start to spark until midway through Act One, when in "Nobody's Perfect," the two begin to disagree and share their lists of the other's annoying habits.
Because the show is so light on dialogue, it's initially difficult to get a feel for these two characters. But we warm to them as the show goes on.
Marcus is charming and boyish at the beginning of the marriage, but grows self-absorbed and boorish as it continues, taking his wife for granted. Conversely, Rice, who at first is timid and naive, grows stronger and more self-assured.
Her solos "Flaming Agnes" and "What Is a Woman" are knockouts.
Marcus's character displays classic self-deception in "It's a Well Known Fact," singing about how men grow better with age but women don't.
"Men of 40 go to town/While women go to pot," he sings. That drew some rumblings of disagreement and consternation from a typically placid audience.
And at another point he sings: "Don't talk back/Do as I say."
The musical suffers because it depends upon such stereotypical views of both genders: the husband takes the wife for granted and buys her gifts he actually wants for himself, the wife gets back at her husband by shopping a lot and overspending.
"I Do! I Do!" seems dated at times, though it's not exactly a period piece like "Carousel" or "Guys and Dolls."
By the end, the universal themes of love and perseverance prevail — anyone can relate to that, no matter what their relationship.
The music throughout the evening — two keyboards and percussion — is wildly uneven. There's a clever percussion accompaniment to Marcus's long list lyrics in "Nobody's Perfect" (which he delivers flawlessly.) But the music itself never again rises to that level. At times, it sounds cheap and tinny, like schmaltzy synthesizer music, at one point swelling so dramatically it sounds more like music for a soap opera. It's intrusive and annoying.
It's as though the musical director doesn't trust the actors and the material to bring across the emotion, so he hits the audience over the head with a very obvious musical cue.
The set, by Jason Bolen, is cleverly done. It's dominated by a huge four-poster bed centerstage, with larger-than-life patterned wallpaper behind it. Six frames take up much of the wall space, filled with white canvas. The canvases are actually screens upon which various images are projected throughout the show, such as windows and views of a house, or childhood photos of the actors used to represent their children.
There's also more than a score of empty frames of various shapes and sizes above the stage and on the set, perhaps implying that these are scenes from a marriage, or that future memories are still to be made.
Just like a marriage, "I Do! I Do!" has its rough patches, but in the end, if you stick with it, ends well.
By NANCY STETSON
"Marriage is a very good thing/Though it's far from easy," sings Lynn Mastio Rice at the end of "I Do! I Do!"
The classic musical about marriage just opened at the Naples Dinner Theatre, running through Oct. 23. And Rice's lyrics are a perfect summation of the show.
The two-person musical stars Rice as Agnes and local favorite (and the theater's assistant artistic director) Barry Marcus as her husband, Michael.
It starts with the two of them saying "I do" and follows them through the ups and downs and twists and turns of marriage.
Marcus has been outstanding in roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "The Pirates of Penzance" and "La Cage Aux Folles," where he's played larger-than-life characters, but this musical isn't the best showcase for his talents. Though Rice is impish and winsome, I kept wishing for more characters for Marcus to act off of.
The musical has a slow beginning and the relationship seems stilted, like the kind of marriages portrayed on '50s TV sit-coms. Rather than coming across like actual people, the two seem more like vehicles for the playwright and lyricist to present their ideas.
Things don't start to spark until midway through Act One, when in "Nobody's Perfect," the two begin to disagree and share their lists of the other's annoying habits.
Because the show is so light on dialogue, it's initially difficult to get a feel for these two characters. But we warm to them as the show goes on.
Marcus is charming and boyish at the beginning of the marriage, but grows self-absorbed and boorish as it continues, taking his wife for granted. Conversely, Rice, who at first is timid and naive, grows stronger and more self-assured.
Her solos "Flaming Agnes" and "What Is a Woman" are knockouts.
Marcus's character displays classic self-deception in "It's a Well Known Fact," singing about how men grow better with age but women don't.
"Men of 40 go to town/While women go to pot," he sings. That drew some rumblings of disagreement and consternation from a typically placid audience.
And at another point he sings: "Don't talk back/Do as I say."
The musical suffers because it depends upon such stereotypical views of both genders: the husband takes the wife for granted and buys her gifts he actually wants for himself, the wife gets back at her husband by shopping a lot and overspending.
"I Do! I Do!" seems dated at times, though it's not exactly a period piece like "Carousel" or "Guys and Dolls."
By the end, the universal themes of love and perseverance prevail — anyone can relate to that, no matter what their relationship.
The music throughout the evening — two keyboards and percussion — is wildly uneven. There's a clever percussion accompaniment to Marcus's long list lyrics in "Nobody's Perfect" (which he delivers flawlessly.) But the music itself never again rises to that level. At times, it sounds cheap and tinny, like schmaltzy synthesizer music, at one point swelling so dramatically it sounds more like music for a soap opera. It's intrusive and annoying.
It's as though the musical director doesn't trust the actors and the material to bring across the emotion, so he hits the audience over the head with a very obvious musical cue.
The set, by Jason Bolen, is cleverly done. It's dominated by a huge four-poster bed centerstage, with larger-than-life patterned wallpaper behind it. Six frames take up much of the wall space, filled with white canvas. The canvases are actually screens upon which various images are projected throughout the show, such as windows and views of a house, or childhood photos of the actors used to represent their children.
There's also more than a score of empty frames of various shapes and sizes above the stage and on the set, perhaps implying that these are scenes from a marriage, or that future memories are still to be made.
Just like a marriage, "I Do! I Do!" has its rough patches, but in the end, if you stick with it, ends well.