Review of I Do! I Do! at Perth Theatre

May 10 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

PERTH couple Amanda Beveridge and Ian Grieve produced and appeared in a little musical gem for just three nights at Perth Theatre, in a highly impressive and rare staging in Scotland of I Do! I Do!.

This musical which tells the story of all-American couple Michael and Agnes from their wedding day in 1920 through the next 35 years of their married life was a success on Broadway when this Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt collaboration (based on The Fourposter by Jan de Hartog) opened in 1966.

It’s an undemanding piece for its audience, but not for those on stage! With a cast of just two (plus the all-important man on the piano) there is no let-up as they act, sing and dance through the whole gamut of emotions which married and family life throws at them.

Happily, Amanda and Ian rose to the challenge, never failing to maintain pace, bringing humour and pathos to their marital roller-coaster and showing impressive versatility in song and dance.

The audience laughed at Agnes and Michael’s wedding night jitters and awkwardness; empathised with their tribulations as their family were born, grew up and flew the nest; anguished over their mid-life crises; and wished them well as they got older together.

And Ian and Amanda had backstage a super team to help make this polished production a real audience pleaser (and a good size audience it was on opening night).

Director Rita Henderson is a highly-respected director and choreographer with numerous top-drawer productions to her credit at Perth, Pitlochry, Dundee, St Andrews and elsewhere in Scotland and further afield.

Perth-based designer Becky Minto has similarly impressive credentials, and in I Do1 I Do! she certainly put the resources of Perth Theatre’s wardrobe department to good use with stunning effect, thanks in massive doses to Perth Theatre’s Jennifer Melville who was generously credited in the programme notes as “the best wardrobe Mistress in the world”.

But back to the action on stage: Regular Perth and Pitlochry Theatre-goers will be familiar with Amanda’s all-round stage skills, while the work of her real-life hubby Ian is better known through his directing.

So it was a pleasant revelation to hear Ian’s fine singing voice and see him turn a versatile hand at acting which included some lovely comic touches.

He stayed the pace well, although the demanding, non-stop dialogue and singing began to take its toll on is voice towards the end of opening night.

Omnipresent and a key (pun intended) part of the production was pianist and musical director Stuart Watson – another home-grown talent who left Perth High School to pursue a career in music and musical theatre.

Most of the songs in I Do! I Do!, while pleasant on the ear and cleverly written, are not ‘classics’ – the main exception being the beautiful ‘My Cup Runneth Over’.

At the end of this entertaining production the lasting impression was that I Do! I Do! was more a triumph of excellent, home-grown acting and production skills than the work itself.

Footnote: In I Do! I Do! life came full circle for Amanda and Ian, who were appearing together on the Perth stage where they first met 20 years ago – in Judy in 1991. They last appeared together at Perth Theatre – again as a married couple – in John Godber’s April in Paris in 1996.

Amanda and Ian’s company, Baudelaire Productions, is working on taking I Do! I Do! on a national tour – they certainly deserve success with their venture!

Alison Anderson