Theater Review:

“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” has no story line to speak of. This latest Huntington Beach Playhouse production is a musical examination of the reality of relationships — that swampy territory beyond the “happily ever after” fade-out of traditional love stories.

Created by Joe DiPietro (book and lyrics) and Jimmy Roberts (music) back in 1996, the show ran for 5,003 performances, the second-longest running off-Broadway musical (behind the venerable legend “The Fantasticks”). Only it more resembles the realistic second act of that show rather than the idealistic first.

It’s a series of musical vignettes on the pitfalls of romance and, as marvelously and inventively directed by Terri Miller Schmidt (who has added two characters to the original four), it’s a barrel of fun. Each actor and actress has a plethora of characters to play with — a total of 90 in all.

If you find yourself identifying with one or two (or several) of the performers from incidents of your own experience, well, that’s intended. “I Love You” cuts to the chase of modern relationships from the agonies of courtship to the drudgeries of parenthood, with a number of stops in between.

In the Huntington Beach production, Schmidt’s half-dozen performers function as a smoothly oiled ensemble with little or no down time between the show’s 19 segments. Each actor has his or her chance to take stage and shine, and all take full advantage of their various opportunities.

The company — Adriana Sanchez, Chris Peduzzi, Melissa Greilach, Michael Gerstner, Theresa Finamore and Michael Keeney — sets an exhausting pace in the longer first act and adheres to it splendidly in the more breezy second.

Highlights abound. Among the first act’s more memorable are a nerd and nerdette (Gerstner and Greilach) connecting in the hilarious number “A Stud and a Babe,” Finamore’s heartfelt solo “I Will Be Loved Tonight” and the glorious “He Called Me” by Sanchez (whose star power is only occasionally thrust forth as one-sixth of the ensemble).

Greilach glitters in the second act’s opening number, “Always a Bridesmaid,” while the entire company parodies a contentious family road trip in “On the Highway of Love,” steered by Finamore and Keeney. Finamore strikes a non-musical highlight as a single gal making a video for a dating service, while Gerstner and Greilach excel as a pair of widowed oldsters striking up sparks at a funeral (“I Can Live With That”).

There’s a parody of “Scared Straight” by the full company that’s sure to elicit a few guffaws, as well as the familiar rap on guys who watch sports on TV and the gals who pretend they’re interested. Sanchez and Peduzzi are particularly effective in a number called “The Marriage Tango” as a couple balancing the lure of intimacy with the demands of progeny.

Anyone who’s ever been in a relationship (and who hasn’t?) should get a terrific kick out of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” which is spiritedly backed by a two-piece orchestra — musical director/pianist Benjamin Sagan and violinist Paul Lee — and further enhanced by Allison Horner’s choreography. It’s a rich musical banana split with a sextet of cherries on top.

If You Go

What: “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”

Who: Huntington Beach Playhouse

Where: Library Theater, 7111 Talbert Ave

When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 6

Cost: $18 to $20

Call: (714) 375-069

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent. TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.