‘I Love My Wife’ at No Square Theatre

OC Theatre Guild
5 hours ago
5 min read

Musical revisits the 1970s with a satirical nod to free love, open marriage and a flirtation with ménage-à-quatre.

From left, Ryan Rees and Sawyer Reece Maier. Photo courtesy of No Square Theatre

By Anne Reid

“I Love My Wife” is a 1977 Broadway musical comedy about two suburban married couples who start to question whether they’ve missed out on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and ’70s. Largely left to the dustbins of history due to its provocative nature, the musical is actually more witty and satirical than scandalous. With a jazzy and stylish score by Cy Coleman and clever, ironic lyrics by Michael Stewart, it’s sharp, adult and very much of its 1970s moment. Rather than fully endorsing the sexual revolution, it pokes fun at suburban insecurity and midlife panic.

Set in Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas Eve, two best friends, Alvin and Wally, and their wives, Cleo and Monica, are happily married and comfortably middle class. But they’re feeling restless. They find themselves in a world that has changed around them. Free love, open marriages and experimentation are everywhere and they begin to wonder if they’ve been too conventional. At a holiday gathering, the couples, fueled by drinks and bravado, embark on a risky “what if” game about swapping partners –a ménage-à-quatre. But fantasy becomes real life when the partners must confront whether they truly want the freedom they’ve been romanticizing.

“‘I Love My Wife’ is a musical that has been overlooked for many years,” said director Joe Lauderdale. “It hasn’t been produced very often because it’s set in a specific time and therefore too dated. But since it’s a show about the ‘Love Revolution,’ swapping wives and enjoying sex, I think it was kind of forgotten during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.” Lauderdale thinks today, because of time and the distance of decades, it has transitioned from dated into distinctly period.

From left, Ryan Rees, Elisa Renae, Sawyer Reece Maier and Kamakaiwa Wilkins. Photo courtesy of No Square Theatre

“I was a teenager then,” Lauderdale said. “It’s been so much fun to look back on that specific time in our past and remember what life was like for many young married couples.” Far from scandalous, Lauderdale described the musical as “funny, semi-farcical, charming, sweet and poignant.” He said he sees it as pure escapist entertainment – sexy but still a family show – which is something audiences crave these days. Contemporary critics agree, calling it “bright, inventive, amusing and breezy” as well as “mildly sexy, vastly diverting and highly amusing.”

An instant hit, the original Broadway production received four Tony Award nominations in 1977, including best musical and best direction, with Lenny Baker winning for best actor in a musical. “I Love My Wife” also marked the Broadway debut of Joanna Gleason. Coleman, a jazz pianist, wrote a beautiful score that reflected his roots, resulting in music that is eclectic, rhythmically complex and deceptively challenging. “Often the notes the actors sing are not even in the chords the band is playing,” Lauderdale noted. “They sound simple but are actually quite difficult.” The onstage band, which includes a piano, upright bass, guitar/banjo and drums, remains central to the show’s distinctive sound and style.

The original Broadway production broke new ground by placing its four-piece band onstage, weaving the band members into the action as characters. For No Square Theatre, Lauderdale preserved that spirit while adapting it for a community theater setting. “In community theater, it’s not always easy to find musicians who can sing, act and play instruments,” he explained. “So I decided to cast four actors to play those roles. We still have the band onstage and they’re part of the action in their own way.” In another departure from tradition, the roles, originally written for men, are played by a diverse group of actors. “We actually have three women and one man,” Lauderdale said. “We’re not changing their names or pronouns. They simply are who they are.”

Visually, the production leans fully into its 1977 setting. With three locations – a diner and two apartments – Lauderdale uses modular chairs and ottomans in bold, blocky styles that shift easily between spaces. Bright colors, geometric shapes and lighting evoke a retro game-show aesthetic while supporting the musical’s shifting moods. Costumes follow suit. “1970s all the way,” Lauderdale said. “The costume designer and I both lived through those times, so we remember it fairly well.”

From left, Sawyer Reece Maier, Elisa Renae, Kamakaiwa Wilkins and Ryan Rees. Photo courtesy of No Square Theatre

For Lauderdale, the heart of the production lies in Coleman’s score. “I’ve always loved Cy Coleman,” he said. “One of the reasons I wanted to do this show is because the music is so good and deserves to be heard.” The intimate scale of No Square Theatre’s space in Laguna Beach’s historic Legion Hall makes it perfect for “I Love My Wife.” Known for producing lesser-known works, the company takes pride in rediscovering overlooked pieces. “That doesn’t make them lesser shows,” Lauderdale noted. “It just means they have to be rediscovered.” The broader theater community has taken notice. “I’ve had people from outside Orange County praise us for doing the show,” Lauderdale said. “People should really come see this delightful piece. It’s such a joyous time.”

In addition to his directing role on “I Love My Wife,” Lauderdale currently serves as artistic director of No Square Theatre. For 17 years, he was youth theater director at the Laguna Playhouse, where his program earned national recognition and multiple awards from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. After retiring in 2005, he returned to the theater in 2009 at the invitation of Bree Burgess Rosen to help transform Laguna Beach’s historic Legion Hall into No Square Theatre’s home. Since then, he has directed numerous productions locally and across Orange County.

Lauderdale hopes audiences will embrace both the theater and the show itself. “Of course, I want people to come to No Square,” he said, “but I would also love for people to see a wonderful piece of theater that is so overlooked. We’re celebrating the holiday season a little early, so come raise a glass, hum along and prepare for a retro romp that proves the past can still surprise us.”