Love and laughter, with hesitation
Love is a many-splendored thing, and Repertory Philippines’ (Rep) 2025 season opener attempts to capture its many splendors—40 characters, 20 vignettes, two acts, and just four actors.
It’s a daunting task, but in “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” Rep delivers it with finesse, charm, and more than a few laugh-out-loud moments.
This musical revival, staged at Eastwood Theater in Quezon City, marks Rep’s first season in its new home. It comes less than a year after the musical’s successful 2024 run, which earned 13 Gawad Buhay citations and two Aliw Award noms.
Given the previous production’s acclaim, there was little reason to reinvent the wheel, and wisely, Rep didn’t. It retained the original cast and creative team, ensuring the same crisp execution that won over audiences the first time.
For those unfamiliar, “I Love You”—with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts—premiered off-Broadway in 1996 and became a long-running cult favorite. A revamped 2018 version updated its themes to reflect modern dating culture, incorporating app-based romance and technology-driven relationships. It is a show that has evolved with the times while maintaining its core charm: an irreverent but heartfelt look at love from first dates to marriage, parenthood, and even romance in old age.
Directorial master class
It would be remiss not to start by handing a well-deserved bouquet to “I Love You’s” creative team, led by director Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo—widely regarded as the First Lady of Philippine Musical Theater. Under her direction, the production is precise, polished, and seamless, with scene transitions that glide effortlessly from one vignette to the next. Lauchengco-Yulo’s deep immersion in classical musical theater is evident in the way she orchestrates timing, movement, and comedic beats with precision, drawing from a well of experience both as a performer and a keen observer of great directors before her.
Lauchengco-Yulo’s approach is a brilliant display of creative collaboration, resulting in a production that feels cohesive from start to finish. Joey Mendoza’s set and costume design is a master class in minimalism, achieving maximum impact with just a few set pieces and clever costume changes. The transitions between vignettes feel fluid, aided by GA Fallarme’s striking projection design, which modernizes the material while subtly reinforcing the show’s themes. Meliton Roxas Jr.’s lighting design further elevates the production, enhancing comedic beats and emotional shifts with well-timed cues.
Strangely, what stayed with me long after the curtain fell was not the storytelling, but the sheer technical mastery of the stage design and transitions—a rare feat in musical theater. Typically, the set serves the story, complementing the narrative. Here, it almost steals the show, proving that a well-crafted visual experience can become a character in itself.
A quartet of versatility
“I Love You’s” success also hinges on its four actors’ versatility, each tasked with transforming into multiple roles over two acts. Thankfully, this ensemble—Gian Magdangal, Gabby Padilla, Krystal Kane, and Davy Narciso (swinging for Marvin Ong)—rises to the occasion, delivering an afternoon of sheer comedic brilliance.
Kane is a standout in every sense of the word. She disappears into each of her characters so completely that she is almost unrecognizable from one vignette to the next. Whether she’s the ever-unlucky bridesmaid in “Always a Bridesmaid,” the aggressively committed relationship-enhancement program saleswoman in “Satisfaction Guaranteed,” or the widowed senior discovering unexpected romance at a funeral in “Funerals are for Dating,” Kane’s impeccable comedic timing and chameleonic transformations steal every scene.
If Act 1 was a whirlwind of witty one-liners and seamless transitions, Act 2, for me, lost some of its momentum. Perhaps it was the natural shift toward more introspective, serious vignettes, but I found my attention wavering. That’s not to say Act 2 didn’t have standout moments—“Funerals are for Dating” and “Marriage Tango” were particularly strong—but I felt a slight dip in energy compared to the first half’s buoyant charm.
One thing I couldn’t ignore was the audience’s reaction—or lack thereof—to certain vignettes. While “I Love You” is undeniably hilarious, its humor landed in select pockets of the crowd rather than resonating with the entire theater. Perhaps this was partly due to the noticeably sparse audience—it wasn’t a packed house, which made the silence in certain moments feel more pronounced. Was this a marketing or promotional issue? Did the show struggle to reach a wider audience despite its previous critical success?
Conservative audience
But beyond attendance numbers, it also made me wonder: Is the Philippine audience still hesitant to embrace works that openly discuss sex and explicit romance?
Some of the bolder vignettes, like “A Picture of His,” which discusses unsolicited explicit photos and online dating culture, were met with hesitant, nervous laughter rather than full-on engagement. This is strange, as the Philippine theater scene has not shied away from sexually explicit themes, with recent productions like Jhudiel Clare Sosa’s “Identité” (Virgin Labfest 2024), Floy Quintos’ “Laro” (restaged in 2023), and Jun Lana’s “Anino sa Likod ng Buwan” (already running at the Peta Theater Center) tackling themes of sexuality, desire, and identity.
It begs the question: Are Filipino theatergoers still not ready for humor that explicitly tackles sex and modern dating? Or was the mixed reception a reflection of the show’s audience that day—one that perhaps leaned more conservative, making certain themes feel more uneasy rather than universally engaging? Given “I Love You’s” jovial approach, it wasn’t exactly provocative, yet some moments seemed to toe the line of audience discomfort rather than eliciting the full, uninhibited laughter the material invites.
Regardless of audience hesitations, “I Love You” remains a breezy, lighthearted romp through the ever-evolving landscape of love. It doesn’t demand mental gymnastics, deep philosophical reflection, or allegorical dissection—nor does it need to. That’s not to say it’s simplistic; rather, its brilliance lies in its effortless charm.
Few themes are as universal as love, and “I Love You” delivers a delightfully comedic and ingeniously staged take on the highs, lows, and absurdities of romance. It may not be groundbreaking given its source material, but it fully understands its purpose—to entertain. And under Lauchengco-Yulo’s deft direction, it does so with both creativity and flair.
Repertory Philippines’ “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” runs until March 9 at the new REP Eastwood Theater. Tickets via TicketWorld.
