Review: IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU at Player's Guild Of Dearborn Is A Hilarious Romp!

By: May. 12, 2019
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Review: IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU at Player's Guild Of Dearborn Is A Hilarious Romp!
Photo Credit: Jennifer Deckert

It Shoulda Been You, running now through May 26th at the Players Guild of Dearborn, is a hilarious musical that will leave the audience smiling from ear to ear. The synopsis of It Shoulda Been You involves a wedding between a Jewish bride and a Catholic groom. With the bride's mother being a controlling force of nature, things start to go haywire. This "perfect day" goes even more astray when the brides' ex-boyfriend crashes the party and tries to win the bride back on her special day. It's up to the sister of the bride to turn a tangled mess into happily ever after in this musical comedy for anyone who ever had parents.

The script of It Shoulda Been You is written intentionally to get audience laughter at key moments. That being said, the laugh lines will fall short if you do not have a cast in place that delivers them properly. I was fortunate enough to see a cast who emphasized all of these key comedic moments throughout the show. At many parts during the show, the cast had to pause before they delivered their next lines so they could wait for the audience to stop laughing.

One standout in the show was Kenyada Davis, playing the role of Marty Kaufman. Davis has an exceptional voice and vocal range, really engaging the audience in his numbers "Who" and "Whatever". I was extremely impressed with his vocal talent every time he was singing on stage. His voice is incredibly smooth, and delivering his solos appeared an effortless task. On top of his vocal talent, his acting ability really allowed his character to standout on stage. Marty Kaufman is arguably one of the most comedic characters in the show. Marty is the ex-boyfriend of the bride, who tries to put an end to the wedding on the bride and groom's special day. He has stalker-like qualities and has many comedic moments that are exemplified through Davis' perfect timing and mannerisms.

Another notable standout in the show is Colleen Meade Ripper, playing the role of Judy Steinberg. Judy is a very dominant and controlling mother of the bride. She is not too fond of the man that her daughter is getting married too, and even less fond of the parents of the groom. Her hatred for the mother of the groom is most notably shown through her hilarious performance of "Nice" in the first act. In Judy's mind, nobody will be good enough for her daughter, except for maybe her daughter's ex-boyfriend Marty. When Marty crashes the wedding, Judy proclaims to him that she wishes her daughter was getting married to him. This whole scenario is demonstrated through the title number "It Shoulda Been You" in the first act. Judy is rotten, selfish, and will stop at nothing to get her own way. Ripper does a great job of portraying this narcissistic attitude throughout the entirety of the show.

The remainder of the cast of It Shoulda Been You is phenomenal as well. Every individual character adds to the total hilarity of the show. Anyone who is looking for an entertaining night out or is looking to laugh should see this production!

It Shoulda Been You is directed by Marc Walentowicz with music direction by Amanda

McFarland and choreography by Janeen Bodary. The production team includes Kori Bielaniec as

Assistant Director with Jeff Bartos and Stan Guarnelo as Producers.

It Shoulda Been You runs 8:00 p.m. May 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25 and 2:30 p.m. May 5, 12, 19, 29 at the theatre, 21730 Madison in Dearborn. Tickets are $20 and can be bought at the door, by calling 313-561-TKTS or by going online, to the playersguildofdearborn.org.

Connect with Player's Guild of Dearbon on Twitter at @PlayersGuildDbo, on Instagram at @theplayersguildofdearborn, and on Facebook at facebook.com/BroadwayinDbo.

*Show information courtesy of Players Guild of Dearborn.



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