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I Love You Because is a modern-day musical love story centered around three couples who fall in and out of love. APO will be performing the show November 17 – 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Koumantzelis Auditorium, and it’s free of charge with a Bentley ID.
In the play, Jeff and Austin are brothers and complete opposites. Jeff, played by sophomore Jose Gutierrez in a breakout role, is a typical guy. He wants a friends-with-benefits relationship, and tries to avoid “true love”. Austin, played by lead and senior Brian Hasbrouck, is a precarious and calculative character, described as a “pussy-whipped, tight-ass Republican”.
Marcie and Diana are roommates with equally opposing personalities. Diana, played by senior Phoebe Johnson, is a hopeless romantic who has entered a “desperate abandon” phase in her relationship. As an actuary, she is equally calculative and sometimes uptight. Marcie, played by sophomore Jennifer Balacuit, is a free thinker and a liberal, playing a stark opposite Austin, with whom she falls in love.
Freshmen Ben Gutwetter and Katie Kradolfer play the barristas gone therapists, who offer both liquor and serious advice to the “heartbreak crew” (the four listed above).
Act I opened with a musical number in New York City and then some banter between the characters. The play includes many musical numbers, all accompanied by a hired music crew. Erin Huelskamp (director) and Emily Howe (music director) have been working with Alpha Psi Omega for the past few months in order to put this together. The play also includes witty and crude humor, and some interesting puppet scenes.
The story in the play is pretty relatable; everyone falls in and out of love, and everyone pines for something or another that seems unattainable. The characters and the students who play them are so easily warmed up to. Between drunken jokes and heartfelt solos, they’re guaranteed to win the audience over with their genuine passion for the story and the play. Not to mention, the songs in the play are pretty catchy.
The play comes together at the end with the characters realizing the difference between saying, “I love you, anyway,” and “I love you, because.” The audience is able to watch these characters grow from loving each other in spite of flaws to loving each other because of who they are. The characters in the play are intimate, and it’s obvious that the cast itself has a wonderful chemistry.
The show was chosen a year in advance, and Huelskamp and Howe were hired for this play specifically. “Shows of this type are right up my alley. I love the comedic side of things, and I love the movement and the choreography. This is why I applied to be a part of this,” says Huelskamp.
“None of these students thought they were singers or dancers or movers,” said Huelskamp. “‘We’re Bentley students, we don’t do that,’ is what they’d say. But I really think this was a good thing for them. It’s exciting to embrace something so new, and in some ways it’s challenging. Jose Gutierrez is brand new to this, and I think his experience particularly was transformative. He definitely started in a different place and look at him now. And Brian – Brian is the lead male and the producer for the show; he’s someone who knows theatre inside and out.”
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This cast and crew will bring on the dancing and singing tonight, and they are going to rock! Come experience the fun.