Romantic comedy meets Pride and Prejudice meets Broadway is the best way to describe Tympanium Euphorium's presentation of I Love You Because this past weekend. The musical is loosely based on Jane Austen's classic novel but set in modern-day New York City. With schemes to win back or get over exes that could only end badly and a friends-with-benefits relationship thrown into the mix, I Love You Because has all the makings of any romantic comedy and delivers the predictable yet feel-good ending expected from any film in that genre.

The show centers on four characters as they try to get over heartbreak or help their friends get over it. Austin Bennett (Nick Maletta '13) begins the play in love and ready for another romantic evening, only to discover that his beloved girlfriend has been cheating on him. He seeks comfort from his brother Jeff (Ray Trott '16), who sets him on a plan to forget about his girlfriend in an effort to win her back. The pair collides with best friends Marcy Fitzwilliams (Tamar Forman-Gejrot '16) and Diana Bingley (Bethany Adam '15) as Diana attempts to find the perfect rebound relationship for Marcy. In true romantic comedy fashion, the two attempt to use each other for their own personal reasons only to end up actually liking each other in the end. 

Maletta and Forman-Gejrot's relationship was the main focus of the play, and despite problems with their chemistry and Forman-Gejrot's vocals, I was invested in the outcome of their relationship. The sweetness with which Maletta sang "Maybe We Just Made Love" only made the next scene, during which Forman-Gejrot rejects his feelings, that much worse. While all the actors conveyed their respective sadness in the song "But I Do," Adam really stands out as the best at being able to adeptly portray her character's feelings; in this scene, she showed Diana's heartbreak clearly, while at other times her facial expressions added to the humor of a scene. "The Actuary Song," sung by Adam, was one of my favorites because Adam rattled off quick lines, singing about the math behind relationships. Her matter-of-fact presentation of relationships and rebound times as variables, coupled with Forman-Gejrot's character's confusion, made for a humorous scene near the beginning of the play.

Another highlight was Adam's relationship with Trott. Trott was responsible for more humorous dialogue in the play because his character was a goofy older brother who always says the wrong word, and Trott was not afraid to play up this character and go for the funny moments. His duet with Adam, "We're Just Friends," which talks about their friends-with-benefits relationship, adds humor in between the more serious, awkward scenes of Maletta and Forman-Gejrot's romantic entanglement and is also one of the high points of the show.

Outside of these characters, Rita Cot?(c) '15 stands out as the bartender and other miscellaneous New York women and is inexplicably in the smaller background role of the play, though she has one of the best voices of the actors and displays plenty of charisma in her short times on stage. She and Danny Steinberg '15 also have some of the best chemistry of any of the couples, and I found myself hoping they too would get together in the end. Steinberg's vocals are more fitting to his smaller role, but he more than makes up for it with personality in his brief moments on stage. The two show this off best in one of my favorite songs, "What Do We Do It For?", as they commiserate with Forman-Gejrot and Adam on failed relationships. Though they are unnamed background characters, their narrator-like roles brought a different dimension of talent and humor to the show.

The stage itself, designed by Robbie Steinberg '13, consisted of three rotating mini-stages that divided up the main locations of the play. In between scenes, each section would be rotated to reveal a coffee shop, apartment, bar or the street front, as necessary. When each section was turned to reveal storefronts, skyscraper-like city lighting was projected onto the back curtain to mimic the city at night. The set was simple yet effective, taking the characters to different locations easily and quite quickly. 

I Love You Because was a light-hearted musical that succeeded because of the actors' ability to bring the audience into their emotions, and though not all vocals were up to par, the fun nature of the show did not require it. Fast-paced and sweet, the show never took itself too seriously, allowing all to enjoy the cute songs and funny dialogue.