Only in South Florida (I admit I’m biased) are we lucky enough to experience spectacular world premieres, see the best of Broadway and off-Broadway, and also get to enjoy many local-talent revivals of enduring classics. We appear to have a special knack for mounting musical favorites from the distant past … to the delight of senior fans and fresh audiences who might have missed the initial run and want to see what all the fuss is about!
I’m often among the latter and am happy to report that new-in-town Pompano Players, resident theater of the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, has achieved a smashing hit with ACM Theatricals’ production of I DO! I DO! The multi-Tony-nominated Tom Jones (book & lyrics) and Harvey Schmidt (music) 1966 musical comedy by the same legendary duo who brought us The Fantasticks is based on Jan de Hartog’s play The Fourposter. You’ll see a traditional, four-poster bed center stage (though not always occupied) throughout the 50-year, 1895-1945, lifespan of the musical’s portrayal of a typical, traditional marriage (at least to those of us of a certain generation). But people are still people, no matter their age. With couple dynamics still reflecting gender biases that we might fight against, in all good conscience, but rarely completely erase. In short, no matter your personal marital history, you’re bound to smirk in recognition of someone, you’ll laugh, you’ll be emotionally moved and even, dare I say often? relate.
In the Cultural Center’s mid-size theater, which boasts true stadium-height seating, you’ll also get a perfect view of all the action between one doting, darling … annoyed and distressed – in short all-too-human couple conscientiously portrayed with all their quirks and passions by highly acclaimed, local equity actors: Carbonell Award-winner Lindsey Corey (as Agnes) and Silver Palm Award-winner Alex Jorth (as Michael). And who better to direct than Carbonell-winning Andy Rogow, artistic director/founder of Wilton Manors’ iconic Island City Stage.
Rogow recently directed Schmidt and Jones’s most famous, most produced 1960 musical, The Fantasticks, which he finds similar in that “It is such a charming, intimate piece, with a score that I find myself humming throughout the day.” I’m relieved to learn that even Andy Rogow admits to never having seen I Do! I Do! before and I believe thus approaches it with fresh, unhampered-by-history enthusiasm. And, as he adds, this two-hander “is also a show that relies on its star power, and we certainly have that with Lindsey Corey and Alex Jorth. They are both true triple-threats and audiences are going to fall in love with them.” We did.
Rogow’s serving as director and his cast were both great reasons to review this show, but the clincher was my relentless support for live music. I Do! I Do! boasts an excellent five-piece band under music director/pianist Eric Alsford (celebrated nationally and winner of five Carbonells locally) with Rupert Ziawinski on bass, Nick Trotogott on drums, Michael Hankins on trumpet, and Maureen Amaral on reeds. They formed the perfect accompaniment to all the absolutely beautiful musical numbers. I believe at least some of these went on to become popular hits because I recognized the songs. It was great to place where they came from while enjoying Amanda Lopez’s lively choreography. I also applaud the invisible master hand of production manager Christian Taylor.
Act 1’s curtain rises to a young Agnes (Lindsey Corey) and Michael (Alex Jorth) rather nervously dressing up for their big day at opposite ends of the stage. The actors’ old-fashioned, formal wedding attire and the room’s furnishings place us toward the end of the Victorian era (appropriate costume design by Penelope Williams, scenic design by Claudia Smith with master carpenter Jeff Davis, props by Elizabeth Guerra, with lighting by Lowell Richards and real-looking windows with changing curtains and more by projection designer/production stage manager Jeremy Quinn). After a couple of somber vow numbers, like “Together Forever,” we are treated to a sparkly duet rendition of “I Do! I Do!” where “marriage is a paradise,“ the future “a dream come true.”
In case you wonder about the couple’s innocence, we almost think this honeymoon night will never happen as they fidget and fuss (to our amusement) before getting into bed. Not to mention the groom’s donning a ludicrously long (like something out of A Christmas Carol) night cap. And when his bride, who admits to never having seen a man “undressed before,” asks, “Have you ever seen a girl undressed?” and he replies, “Well, I saw one once in a magazine,” she’s scandalized.
But love and lovemaking (under quilt cover) finally occur and Michael’s stalwart declaration of “I Love My Wife” is presented as a humorously incurable, abnormal condition. “I love her as a lover, not just a friend,” he proudly sings. They dance together on the bed and, not much later, we meet a very pregnant Agnes singing her endearingly fresh take on pregnancy via “Something Has Happened.” Ending with: “Oh – something has happened. Something old. But to me it is still so new. For all at once, instead on one – I am two.”
The birth of a son brings more love in “My Cup Runneth Over.” And while we don’t see the kids (they soon also produce a daughter), we see their adorable baby clothes hung on a line and their overworked mom getting no help with clean up. Agnes is stuck putting away all those dear antique (to us) toys – a wooden rocking horse, Radio Flyer red wagon, fire truck and tricycle — while her novel writer husband looks on, dismayed at his new reality of needing to increase his earnings to support his growing family in “Love Isn’t Everything.”
As with many couples in long marriages, little annoyances fester and grow … to the point of each compiling a lengthy complaint list. These two exchange their lists and we briefly assume the number, “Nobody’s Perfect,” will bring them back together. But then we must contend with the fragile male ego. (To be fair, Agnes does tend to mock her husband’s sense of self-importance and constantly dismisses his literary efforts.)
Michael sings it’s “A Well Known Fact” that “men of 40 go to town. Women go to pot.” The song elaborates on the theme that men get better with age, and he uses its pronouncements as an excuse for having fallen for a younger woman who adores his writing, while Agnes sees his affair as a typical, ludicrous manifestation of male midlife crisis. Which does bring on one of my absolute favorite Lindsey Corey numbers, “Flaming Agnes.” You must come just to see Lindsey rock an elaborate $85 hat as an “emancipated lady” who then sticks it to “that pompous, pompous, pompous, pompous ass!!”
They do reconcile when a pleading, tearful Michael asks his wife to take him back. An older, middle-aged couple opens Act 2 by celebrating New Year’s Eve at home (and the fact that they’ve managed to remain awake). They worry about their teenagers staying out late and now look forward to a child-free life of travel and leisure “When the Kids Get Married.”
It comes soon enough. We sympathize with Michael’s frenzied state as “The Father of the Bride” when he proclaims his daughter “is marrying an idiot!” We then meet empty-nesters Michael and Agnes packing up the family home (while leaving their fourposter for the next young couple). There are a few bittersweet but also funny moments (I can’t imagine how Agnes’s mother’s gift of a satin bed pillow — embroidered with “God is Love” and eternally despised by Michael — lasted all those years!).
Suddenly we see Agnes determined to find out who she is — other than a wife and mother. Meanwhile, Michael proves he can grow and finally put his wife’s feelings and desires first. Still, I can’t help but wonder how a single, thoughtful gift can turn Agnes from a burning desire to seek adventure and find herself to taking solace in “Someone Needs Me” and a return to married life. I take solace in imagining new-and-improved Michael allowing Agnes space to grow and occasionally joining her in her journey — one we don’t get to see.
a bang! Photo by Amy Pasquantonio.
