Love is in the Air...and on Stage

Two romantically themed world premieres hit Norfolk the weekend before Valentine’s Day, posing a sharp contrast between a community production with ferocious heart and a professionally funded stab at slick entertainment. 

Love v. Duty, by local playwright/director/actress Frankie Little Hardin, began a promising run at the 40th Street Stage. Love, Inc., a musical comedy with book, music and lyrics by Marc Castle, heads toward New York after a somewhat shakier start at the Roper Theatre.

Hardin has crafted convincing dialogue and genuinely interesting characters, though the plot of Love v. Duty does partake of some sizable coincidences. It’s about a fictional legal test of same sex marriage, which two women take to the Supreme Court. Two male lawyers, one widowed and one single, turn the partnership of Sarah and Jennifer into a drama played out in three part—or perhaps four part—disharmony.

Opening night of Love, Inc. pitted energetic and winsome professionals against an awkward set, unflattering costumes, moments of ghastly lighting, and their own inability to enunciate. Since every word that romantic lead Paolo Montalban uttered in speech or song was perfectly clear, the problems that supporting cast members had in making themselves understood must have been of their own making. 

This new musical revolves around 30-something New York businesswoman Faith, whose success in commercial mergers and acquisitions contrasts with her conspicuously unmerged personal life. She sets her cap for divorced TV commentator and economist Casey, employing the strategies of business and the services of acquaintances to win his heart—or at least his attentions. 

As Faith, Heather Parcells showed that she can sing, project a consistent character, and even dance when she gets a chance. As Casey, the smiling and handsome Montalban matched Parcells as an actor and surpassed her as a singer. He looked great in group scenes but got a spotlight for solos that made him look like a bilious Martian. Michael Minarik and Hollis Scarborough each maintained their uniformity though their several supporting roles.