A gorgeous score, appealing performances, and a book that will have you reflecting on the very meaning of love are just three reasons to fall for South Coast Repertory’s World Premiere musical adaptation of Craig Lucas’s Prelude To A Kiss.

The cutest of meet-cutes introduces us to cockeyed optimist Peter (Chris McCarrell) and cynical insomniac Rita (Hannah Corneau) as they bond over Molsens, their distinctly different upbringings (hers pretty much ideal, his downright depressing), and D. M. Thomas’s bummer of a novel The White Hotel.

And if their first meeting already has Peter confessing to Rita that “I would really, really like to see you with all of your clothes off and stuff like that” and Rita dittoing his desires, before long their mutual sexual urges have turned into something far more profound.

Not that there aren’t potential roadblocks to a lifelong commitment, for example Rita’s confession that though “kids are great, I just don’t think it’s fair to raise them in the world the way it is now.”

Still, it doesn’t take much time for Rita to tell her parents about Peter (“I said that you were very considerate and that you were very attentive to whether or not I had an orgasm.”) and if what she really said was simply that the three of them should meet, Peter is absolutely sincere when he blurts out an impulsive “Will you marry me?”

Not only are Peter and Rita the most appealing of young couples, but book writer Lucas has surrounded them with the most delightful of friends and family members—Rita’s lesbian bff Angie (DeAnne Stewart), Peter’s good-natured bestie Taylor (Jimmie “J.J.” Jeter), and Rita’s deeply loving but decidedly quirky parents (James Moye as Rita’s Dad and Karen Ziemba as Rita’s Mom).

And then there’s Julius (Jonathan Gillard Daly), the septuagenarian stranger whose sudden arrival at Peter and Rita’s nuptials prompts the musical’s titular kiss and the life-changing consequences that follow.

Having seen the 1992 Alec Baldwin-Meg Ryan movie adaptation perhaps a half dozen times, I knew precisely what to expect in the aftermath of that kiss.

Audience newbies, however, may find themselves scratching their heads about exactly what’s what, the result of book writer Lucas’s decision to keep them as much in the dark as Peter is about Rita’s sudden personality change, and based on what I’m told has been the reaction of more than a few in the audience, Lucas might want to consider cluing them in earlier on.

I’d also suggest that Peter and Julius be given a bit more “getting to know you” time before their powerful eleventh-hour duet of “This Body” and what immediately ensues.

Notwithstanding these critiques, if you’re anything like me, you too will find yourself falling head over heels for Prelude To A Kiss, a musical that asks audiences to ponder the question, “Can romantic love can survive if there’s absolutely no physical attraction left to inspire desire?”

Daniel Messé’s exquisite melodies and catchy hooks had me humming along in my head from first listen, and his lyrics (written with collaborator Sean Hartley) are ingenious extensions of Lucas’s original Broadway script.

And under David Ivers’ inspired directions, a mostly New York-based cast deliver one captivating turn after another beginning with lanky charmer McCarrell and raven-haired stunner Corneau in roles that provide them with ample opportunities to impress both vocally and as actors, McCarrell when Peter reaches a heartbreaking realization midway through Act Two and Corneau when Rita undergoes that sudden personality shift a bit earlier on.

 Daly is deeply moving as both a man facing the end of his days and someone given a new lease on life;

Moye and Ziemba sell Rita’s Dad and Mom’s amusing song showcases “Whatever My Little Girl Wants” and “Happy Wife, Happy Life/Entropy” like the Broadway mega-vets they are and supportive best friends don’t get any more engaging than Stewart’s Angie and Jeter’s Taylor.

SoCal favorite Julie Garnyé (as Leah) shows off polished dramatic and vocal chops in “The Man He Used To Be.”

Bella Hicks, Robert Knight, Caroline Pernick, and Tristan J. Shuler make for the most multitalented of ensemble players, whether dancing to Julia Rhodes’ eye-catching choreography or essaying assorted cameo roles.

Wiley DeWeese scores points for his musical direction as does keyboardist Alby Potts’ conducting of the production’s glorious eight-piece orchestra, with dialog, vocals, and instrumentals expertly mixed by sound designer Andrea Allmond.

Last but not least, Scott Davis (set), Linda Cho and Herin Kaputkin (costumes), Marcus Doshi (lighting), and Yee Eun Nam (projections) give Prelude To A Kiss The Musical the loveliest of production designs.

Prelude To A Kiss The Musical features orchestrations by Greg Pliska and vocal arrangements by DeWesse and Messé, both exquisite, with additional arrangements by DeWesse.

Casting is by JZ Casting with additional casting by Joanne DeNaut, CSA. Rachel Lykins and Robert Zelaya are swings.

Talia Krispel is stage manager.

The road from pre-Broadway tryouts to The Great White Way starts years before a musical gets its first professional staging, and Prelude To A Kiss may still have a ways to go before it makes it to New York. (Next stop, a Fall 2024 run at Milwaukee Rep.)

Still, even as is, I was instantly smitten, and count myself fortunate indeed to have been among the first to experience Prelude To A Kiss The Musical’s multitude of charms.

South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Through May 5. Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30. Fridays at 8:00. Saturdays at 2:30 and 8:00. Sundays at 2:00
www.scr.org

–Steven Stanley
April 21, 2024
Photos: Matt Gush/SCR

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Craig Lucas, Daniel Messé, Orange County Theater Review, Sean Hartley, South Coast Repertory