I
Love My Wife at The Center at Rhinebeck
by
Jay Blotcher
Peter Aaron
Up in One Productions was co-founded in 2001 by
di Grandi. Any notion that this was another community theater playing
it safe was quickly dismissed by their first production: the religious
psychodrama Agnes of God. Other highlights include a gender- reversal
staging of Richard III, directed by Gregio and reliable fare like
Oklahoma! or Fiddler on the Roof. The not-for-profit, all- volunteer
group includes several people who once toiled in the footlights
in Manhattan, and at least one person who still does. Scenic designer
Richard Prowse has painted backdrops for the Broadway shows Thoroughly
Modern Millie and Beauty & the Beast and maintains a studio
in Rhinebeck.
“We’re
non-equity, but we certainly try to maintain a professional standard,”
di Grandi said. “It’s not ‘hey ma, look at me.’”
In 2008, expect Up in One to mount the musicals Man of La Mancha
and West Side Story and the Neil Simon comedy Chapter Two, all at
The Center at Rhinebeck.
Whether
you find I Love My Wife deeply charming or mildly annoying, it’s
a matter of taste, like wearing a gossamer negligee or a leather
harness. Theatre critic Bob Rendell, who reviewed a 2004 revival
of the show in Nyack, New York, nailed the nagging dichotomy by
observing, “It’s a light, silly story, and it falls
somewhere between being a period piece and being just dated.”
Di
Grandi has a different evaluation, praising the show “because
it is about relationships, love and friendship - and those things
don’t change.”
Where
does I Love My Wife figure in musical theater history? As good-natured
comedy masquerading as social commentary? Or as a cynical attempt
to cash in on the last gasp of 60s counterculture? Michael Stewart
and Cy Coleman ultimately handle a taboo subject with kid gloves...
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