A Glimpse into Heterosexual Dating

Internet Dating: The Musical. art/works theatre. 6/22/05.

Internet Dating: The Musical is an adorable world premiere musical about, obviously, the vagaries of internet dating. It's fun; a good, solid musical that had my affection from "You're Cute (...but you don't know how to spell)" sung by the delightfully energetic Reggie de Leon. Some of the songs in this show (most notably "Google You" sung by Suzan Solomon as a protective mom) are truly brilliant and hilarious, and well-suited to both the plot and theme of the show. One of the major high points of the play was the fact that every actor had at least one strong musical number that highlighted their talent and gave depth to each of their characters.

I apparently attended on an off night, a Thursday with a small audience when a new actor was joining the cast, replacing the actor who played Mr. Flexible. The understudy, Anthony Mannix, was playing the role of Eduardo, and the lead, Ali Spuck was sick and the role was played by Ali Pomerantz, who normally plays her best friend. According to reports (some reviews available on the press page), Spuck is a little darker and more sarcastic than Pomerantz, but I found Pomerantz wonderfully cute and quirky. She doesn't look like the typical musical theater lead, but did look like the kind of everywoman you might find in an office, and I think that worked in her favor. Female understudy Dianna Wyenn substituted as one of the lead's best friends, but she was dramatically outperformed by the spunky Sandy Shimoda as the other friend.

The highlights of the show were Jennifer Norkin, who was hilarious and extremely flexible in her various ensemble roles and her wacky number as an internet virus, and the musical number "Bi-Coastal Bisexual" which had me laughing out loud even though it was performed rather awkwardly by the obviously quite heterosexual Anthony Mannix and Trip Hope.

In fact, the whole musical was overwhelmingly heterosexual, in both cast and content, and while I've experienced my fair share of queer internet dating, seeing it from a heterosexual perspective is a bit different. The biphobia inherent in making the villian the only major queer character in the show makes me a bit uncomfortable. In fact, the whole thing would benefit from a gay best friend or other fun queer character. The gender dynamic of internet dating makes everything a bit more complicated in terms of norms and expectations, though the show does a good job of demonstrating that main character learns how to make the first move instead of hiding behind the idea that girls have to wait for guys to ask them out. I also like the fact that you didn't know which guy the girl would fall for (Was it Trip Hope, who was a little too conventionally attractive for his role as the dorky but adorable scientist or was it Kyle Nudo as a slightly rumpled coworker?) It wasn't until the beginning of the second act when the number "I Never Understood Why You Were Single" acts as the traditional musical theater love song that we even have a clue who Jenny was meant to be with.

My only other major complaint about the show was that it was supposedly set in Los Angeles, but it didn't feel particularly LA (except for one mention of a screenplay). It had a very non-descript locational feel, and I would have liked a better sense of setting. The set, however, designed by Mia Torres, was wonderfully fun and practical. With a screen-shaped false proscenium and a scrim screen upstage through which potential internet dates emerged, the set was cute and functional and very fun. The stage itself sometimes seemed too small for a musical with such great energy and big heart and a fairly large cast of ten. Director Annie Oelschlager did a good job of making use of a small space, but this show feels as if it needs a bigger space and a bigger run. The choregraphy, by Brian Paul Mendoza, was a little dubious at times, with some very cheesy musical theater moves, but in general the overall staging was fun and servicable.

Overall, though, I would totally recommend this show. The writer/composer/lyricist, Ron Weiner, has a lot of talent with musical comedy and the entire cast deserves hearty congratulations for their energy. It was a super-fun little show, and I hope it has a life beyond its closing date on July 15.