How long do you think "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" will run?

[HBBrock]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 8:42am

?

[alterego]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:12am

I'm surprised that it has run this long. Not funny.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:17am

It has a built-in audience.

It caters to cheap, straight couples. They will always exist.

It will run forever.

[D2]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:20am

^^^^^

[HBBrock]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 9:37am

Please elaborate.... Why do you say that? I've never seen the show...I was just curious.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 10:27am

Do you need to see the show to know that?

Do you think the show sells on word of mouth about the contents of the show?

The title is what sells the show.

The title speaks to straight couples.

It's Off-Broadway. There's always a discount available. It's a cast of four with two understudies and practically no set. It's cheap to run.

It's "something to do!" for straight couples.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 10:34am

I think it's funny that you say it "caters to cheap, straight couples" when just about everybody on this board talks about rush seats, SRO, discounts, lotto, etc.

Just slightly hypocritical.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 10:35am

It will run as long as there are tourists. That's what the audience is made up of.

And that's what ensures any show a long run.

Updated On: 3/27/08 at 10:35 AM

[Craig]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 10:47am

Really? No gay couple has every thought I love you, you're perfect, now change?

Interesting analysis there WBAF

It is inexpensive to run. It's shtick and cute and better than a lot of other offerings I've seen off-Broadway and even some I've seen on Broadway.

I'm always baffled by these types of threads. How long do think ____ will run? It will run as long as there's an audience. It's not rocket science.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 11:19am

As a gay man, I have to say I thought I Love You ... Now Change was very cute. Granted, I saw it with the brilliant Jennifer Simard many years ago, and have no idea what shape the show is in now, but I had a good time and it got a good amount of laughs out of me. I think to say it caters to "cheap straight couples" is ludicrous ... like someone else said, most of the posters on here are looking for cheap seats ... rush, student tkts, lotto, discount, papering, TDF. Don't think I've ever seen anyone ask about getting premium or full-price tickets. Everybody is looking for a discount. I actually would love to know how many people on BWW actually pay full price for the shows that they think are the best things since sliced bread.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 11:37am

First, let me say that I saw I Love You You're Perfect Now Change for the first time when I was 14 years old, and I loved it and thought it was very smart and fun. For a variety of reasons, I've seen it 4 or 5 times since and I am very fond of the show and the score.

I am not trying to generalize but I DO know quite a few gay people who have commented on not liking/ not being able to relate to/ not appreciating the show BECAUSE it is very much about heterosexual life experiences, as opposed to universal ones. I can understand this viewpoint.

It makes me think of Ken Mandelbaum's comment in Not Since Carrie about the musical, Baby. He is hypothesizing several reasons why Baby failed to catch on, and he writes 'the show was utterly heterosexual, a problem for some musical comedy fans'.

That really made me think when I read it and I think it may apply here too. (Not that I Love You, You're Perfect... has failed to catch on! But you know what I mean!)

I know there are people who happen to be gay that like both shows, and people who happen to be straight that hate both shows. But as a large group, as a demographic, (if it is not politically incorrect to say), I think people who happen to be gay may not favor either show. And I think that is interesting the same way I think it is interesting when the Jewish demographic doesn't support a show, or when the 65+ crowd doesn't respond to a show.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 11:56am

yeah...that's why gays hate "Company"...they only like "Falsettos" and other shows that have gay relationships in them.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 12:07pm

Company is not about wedding ceremonies, guys being disgusting and doing things like babbling about Caddyshack and dying on the couch watching ESPN, women being pressured to get married ASAP so they can have kids... ILY, YP, NC is about the mundane but funny details of going through heterosexual relationships... Company is about learning how to connect to another human being and questioning the people closest to you's lifestyle choices and opening yourself intimately to other people and growing up...
This is just my opinion, and I am not saying that ALL gay people hate ILY, YP, NC... I am just saying it's possible to postulate that it really IS about heterosexual life more than other shows, and this may be a reason why its fans are mainly straight couples... (The ad campaign for the show understood this quite early, and catered to it, perhaps affecting the demographic of the audience as well)

[tazber]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 12:11pm

I just checked my Tarot deck and it says closing notice will be posted 9/16/2052.

That's also when all people will be gay and there won't be any more straight couples.

(As a result of the loss of "straight" revenue, Broadway as an industry will permanently close and become a series of cabaret acts in gay ghettos)

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 12:22pm

It is a totally harmless little show, completely painless and almost entirely content free, with sitcom level insights into relationships and stuff like that. There's always an audience for non-challenging innocuous stuff, and why not.

I've heard they haven't been playing to exactly full houses for a while now. My guess is that it will run until it loses more money than they're comfortable with losing.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 1:17pm

So what if it's about heterosexuals? So what if there's a group of people who don't relate to it? Does that mean a person can't enjoy a show if it's not about their own lifestyle? I don't believe a prerequisite for liking a show is that it must be about you and your life.

Hmm, I can't think of too many shows which are about my lifestyle. And guess what-the one that IS totally about my life is Next to Normal, and I didn't enjoy it.

eta-my family lives the life portrayed in N2N because I have sister who's ill.

Updated On: 3/27/08 at 01:17 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 3:37pm

Why does anyone ever listen to Wanna Be A Foster? He's just a bitter old queen who happens to live in New York.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 3:39pm

this gay gay gay man loved the show. I've also seen 2 regional productions and enjoyed them as well.

Not sure why it calls for heterophobia.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 3:50pm

I guess a number of you have proven me wrong then, which I appreciate Honestly, what I wrote was just a hypothesis based on the large number of friends of mine who happen to be gay expressing their disinterest in the show, and the fact that the show does market to the "straight couple" audience. And then I tried to reconcile this with the comment about Baby 'being utterly heterosexual'. I think it's an interesting topic for discussion but I'm not saying that I'm 100% correct in making that generalization above... I was just putting it out there as a possible theory, which I should've made more clear.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 3:54pm

Thanks for that post, Infinite. Some of the posts here were reactions to another person, Wannabe a Foster, though, and not you so much!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 3:58pm

I'm interested in good theatre. Not gay or straight theatre. :)