Rogers, Ark. – Arkansas’ Public Theatre’s production of It Shoulda Been You — featuring an interfaith wedding gone awry, bickering mothers, and an all-knowing, borderline-magical wedding planner — is a joyful farewell to the company’s 37th season, the last before the theater closes for renovation. The play runs weekends through July 30.
In the play — book and lyrics by Brian Hargrove and music and concept by Barbara Anselmi — older sister Jenny Steinberg (Alex Fry) does her best to make sure that her sister Rebecca’s (Rachel Miller) wedding goes off without a hitch while both families try to sabotage it.
The Steinbergs wish Rebecca were marrying her ex-boyfriend Marty Kaufman (Edward Mountz). As the titular song “It Shoulda Been You” tells us, at least he’s Jewish.
On the groom’s side, the mother of the groom, Georgette Howard (Allison A. McElroy), wants to be the only woman in her son’s life. But, as a twist midway through the show reveals, everything is not as it seems amid these two families’ constant bickering.
A particular standout in the cast is Edward Mountz, who plays the ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend of Rebecca and Jenny, respectively. The earnestness with which he tackles this role makes him hard to dislike, even as we are introduced to him as an ex-lover ready to crash Rebecca’s wedding with no invite. Alex Fry is a strong singer, and her comedic timing is spot on. Both mothers: Allison A. McElroy (groom’s) and Lynn Manning (bride’s) are naturals at batting backhanded compliments back and forth and portraying peak passive aggression.
And each of their characters has a completely different understanding of the wedding and why it should(n’t) happen. Is the bride marrying the wrong person? “Where did I go wrong?” McElroy wonders in a hilarious number about her failed attempt to keep her son close. Is a wedding-day prenup a deal breaker? Should there be a panini station?
The dramatic irony and sheer chaos of wedding planning set to upbeat music are sure to make anyone who’s been even tangentially involved with planning any wedding day laugh along. Though the rhymes in the musical numbers can be predictable at times, it’s the self-referential and unashamedly campy audacity to rhyme “Nuptial Houdini” with “conjuring in-laws and panini” that makes the show enjoyable to watch.
It Shoulda Been You isn’t perfect. It ran on Broadway for about five months in 2015 with. Critics called the Jewish jokes and stereotypes “dated” then, and eight years later, the never satisfied, fat-shaming Jewish mother, stilted, emotionally vacant father-son relationship, and repressed “perfect” older daughter, don’t feel like anything we haven’t seen before.
There are also parts of the play where characters look directly at each other and explain their relationships to us. The sisters have been pitted against each other, vying for their mother’s approval, but have a lot of admiration for each other (“You’re the strong one” they argue back and forth). The groom, Brian (Jacob Andrews), tells his mother “You know mom, I just want to thank you for everything. You are so… just plain awesome. I want you to know that if I ever achieve anything in this world, it will be because of you. I love you.” In the context of the play, these moments don’t carry the revelatory power they might — even if they fuel the shock factor for the improbable twist in the middle of the show.
APT’s production uses an azure blue and lavender hotel hall set and rainbow-colored lighting (compliments of Matthew Etris) that can make the musical numbers take on the quality of a fever dream. This adds a hint of irony to what would otherwise be a played out dynamic. In the experience of it, this genuinely funny show, though exaggerated, gets at the real dynamics that happen when big, complicated families come together. The cabaret style seating, photo booth, and wedding party favors at every table help immerse guests in the loving energy that went into this production. If audiences can suspend disbelief, they’re in for a real treat.
Still playing: It Shoulda Been You runs weekends through July 30 at the Victory Theater in Rogers, Arkansas. Tickets: https://www.arkansaspublictheatre.org/tickets
