Did Critics Fall for Off-Broadway's I Love You Because?

The new writing team of Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman are behind I Love You Because, a modern-day telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with reversed gender roles. The show opened at off-Broadway's Village Theatre on February 14. Did critics fall in love with this new romantic musical?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "A brassy, comic musical about contemporary dating in New York, I Love You Because also aspires to be an updated take on Pride and Prejudice. The concept is fine in theory, but Ryan Cunningham's book and lyrics aren't nearly clever enough to be mentioned in the same breath as Jane Austen's sparkling prose or even the recent film adaptation. If one forgets about the allusions to the book, however, the show does boast several cute songs…Despite its flaws, I Love You Because may well attract straight couples on dates to the Village Theatre. If the semi-sweet, semi-silly show does prove to be a hit, perhaps the creative team will lower the volume a little. And while they're making improvements, they might consider excising all the Jane Austen references. As it is, they just make this upbeat little musical look dumb."

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times: "A nonsensical mathematical formula drives the plot of I Love You Because, a new musical at the Village Theater, so it seems appropriate to sum up the play with a formula that also sounds a little daffy: four characters you're sick of seeing, plus one story that has nothing new to say, equals--an infectiously entertaining show? That's right, the young team of Joshua Salzman music and Ryan Cunningham book and lyrics has somehow managed to take a premise that should have had no redeeming value and fill it with wit and zest. A likable six-member cast with an abundance of comic instinct and no weak voices helps, as does a skilled band under Jana Zielonka."

Mark Blankenship of Variety: "Honoring bell curves everywhere, I Love You Because joins the swollen ranks of musicals so average they make us appreciate full-on disaster almost as much as true brilliance. This boilerplate tuner from lyricist Ryan Cunningham and composer Joshua Salzman debuted last year at the National Alliance for Musical Theater's festival of new work, and in that workshop setting, it might have seemed like a harmless romantic comedy set to pop-rock rhythms. In full production, though, it doesn't seem like much of anything…To be fair, comic writers since Menander have been shoving unlikely lovebirds together, so Cunningham shouldn't be faulted for using a classic structure. But formulaic shows need witty or surprising details to make them unique. I Love You Because relies on recycled jokes and the hoariest power-pop cliches."

Michael Kuchwara of Associated Press: "What's a fellow to do when he finds his girlfriend in bed with another guy? Hmmm, not a bad opening for a musical, especially one called I Love You Because, which arrived, appropriately enough, on Valentine's Day at off-Broadway's Village Theatre. Vaguely - very vaguely - based on Pride and Prejudice, this ingratiating little show gives us two Bennett brothers instead of the Bennett sisters, siblings who live in present-day New York instead of early 19th-century England…Take I Love You Because more as a promising beginning, the debut of a new song-writing duo, than as a major work of musical theater, and you most likely will have a fine time."

Sam Thielman of Newsday: "The new romantic musical comedy I Love You Because, which opened on Valentine's Day, charms and repels with equal force, like Godiva chocolates filled with strained peas…Then, just as you're ready to shut the door in its face, I Love You Because springs "We're Just Friends," a cheerfully dirty number that finally puts [Stephanie] D'Abruzzo to good use and reveals actor Austin to be more than a shtickster. From here on, Cunningham abandons the dumber gags and undercuts the schmaltz. Jeff lays off the comical misspeech and starts trying to express his feelings, which is loads funnier. Much of the credit for what goes right belongs to the performers. All four leads beautifully sell cheesy moments. Take the Act I finale "Just Not Now," an I'm-leaving-the-one-I-love-for-no-good-reason song. While Alvin gently explains her rationale, Hanlon sits cross-legged on a picnic blanket and quietly absorbs the blow. He's wound a little too tight, and can't deal with emotions, but he's still having them, silently crying huge tears from a downturned face."