I’m too much of a fan of Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman’s “modern day musical love story” I Love You Because not to feel let down and put out by the overacted, misdirected Chromolume Theatre production now playing at the Zephyr Theatre.

On the plus side are Cunningham and Salzman’s clever, catchy, often downright gorgeous songs, the quirky featured characters they’ve created, and the musical’s quartet of Jane Austen-inspired star-crossed leads.

20something New Yorkers Austin Bennet, Marcy Fitzwilliams, Jeff Bennet, and Diana Bingley (notice their Pride And Prejudice family names?) might possibly be lucky in cards but they are definitely unlucky in matters of the heart.

Take straightlaced greeting card “poet” Austin (Troy Dailey), who’s only just today discovered his longtime love Catherine doing the nasty with someone decidedly not Mr. Bennet.

Then there’s photographer Marcy (Cassandra Caruso), whose 27th romantic relationship has recently ended as badly as numbers 1 through 26.

Fortunately for both, help is on the way, Austin’s thanks to his bang-‘em-and-leave-‘em brother Jeff (Colin Huerta), Marcy’s from her keep-it-casual best friend Diana (Lauren Josephs).

Jeff’s suggestion that Austin win Diana back through indifference and Diana’s that Marcy find Mr. Right by dating Mr. Wrong during “rebound time” (which the actuary has calculated to be exactly six months) soon has Mr. Bennet and Ms. Fitzwilliams meeting cute in the same coffee bar where Jeff and Diana have coincidentally set up their own “J-Date” (no matter that neither is Jewish).

Though Austin and Marcy could hardly be more dissimilar (she’s spur of the moment, he plans long in advance; she’s liberal, he’s a Republican) and despite his spending their entire first date waxing poetic about Catherine and then accusing Marcy of being “a whiner,” it’s clear from the get-go that the mismatched couple might be a whole lot righter for each other than their exes, and that friendship-with-benefits might not work nearly as well for Jeff and Diana as it has in past flings.

All of this adds up to a musical that ought to sweep you off your feet, but as was the case with the Morgan-Wixson Theatre’s Bat Boy misfire, director Meghan Ripchik would appear to believe that the more freedom she gives actors to ham it up, the better, and as bad as all this overacting was in the 200-seat proscenium stage Morgan-Wixson, it is an even more serious problem at the 74-seat Zephyr where no audience member is farther than three rows from the stage.

The cameo roles played by Renee Cohen and Ellie Rodriguez come across cartoonish instead of the quirky but real New Yorkers they’re supposed to be.

Jacobs and Huerta may have their authentic moments, and they definitely have the requisite vocal chops, but they too (and Huerta in particular) play their roles as if they were aiming for row ZZ at the Pantages.

On the plus side, leads Dailey and Caruso manage for the most part to avoid the overacting Ripchik seems to encourage (it helps that their characters are the musical’s most grounded), they have undeniable romantic chemistry, and possess the caliber voices to make Cunningham and Salzman’s songs soar.

Dailey’s powerhouse tenor in “Maybe We Just Made Love” and “Goodbye” and Caruso’s exquisite soprano in “Just Not Now” and “Even Though” are as good as it gets, and Dailey, Caruso, Huerta, and Josephs’ four-voices-in-counterpoint “But I Do” earns deserved cheers.

Michael Mullen’s costumes seem appropriate choices for each character, including plenty of miniskirts and tank tops to show off Marcy’s abundance of leg-and-arm tats, however scene changes are often clunky (Rody Villegas designed the low-budget set), and on opening night at least, there appeared to be multiple glitches in Stephaney Knapp’s lighting design.

Ripchik’s choreography is bouncy if not particularly inspired, and music director Miki Yokomizo keyboard accompaniment throughout the show is impeccable.

Blake Rhiner and Christine Jardine understudy the roles of Austin and Marcy. Ariella Salinas Fiore is intimacy director. Mara Aguilar is production stage manager and Vincent Macias is assistant stage manager. Ken Werther is publicist.

 I may have had a few minor issues with Chromolume’s most recent production, the similarly New York-set musical romcom First Date, but overall that production worked, and so could I Love You Because with a much defter directorial hand.

As is, Chromolume Theatre’s I Love You Because proves a major disappointment for this I Love You Because lover, not the least because past productions have shown me what it could have been.

Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles.
www.chrtheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
February 28, 2025
Photos: James Esposito

Tags: Chromolume Theatre, Joshua Salzman, Los Angeles Theater Review, Ryan Cunningham, Zephyr Theatre