STAGE REVIEW : Performers Say ‘I Do! I Do!’ but Still Struggle : Musical: Capable singing fails to make up for acting deficiencies.

The Theatre in Old Town’s production of “I Do! I Do!” possesses the trappings of a successful musical comedy. The Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt play is a proven box-office winner, director Daniel Yurgaitis is coming off a successful production at the North Coast Repertory Theatre, and the design team lists solid, impressive credentials.

Still, theater is essentially about performance, and the two actor-singers in this show struggled tremendously during Thursday’s opening night.

“I Do! I Do!,” which opened on Broadway in 1966, is a sparse musical tracing 50 years of marriage between an archetype man and wife--Michael (Charles Jackam) and Agnes (Patti Goodwin). The two-person play opens with the couple exchanging wedding vows and proceeds to depict the significant events of marriage--the beauty of childbirth, the trauma of watching a daughter marry, the malaise of advancing age, etc.

Jones’ skeletal script includes some cliche circumstances and repartee, so it is up to the two performers to spice up these stock situations. Unfortunately, neither Goodwin nor Jackam managed to imbue the material with imagination. Both actors created gross caricatures rather than textured characters.

Jackam’s pedantic Michael howled with unfunny, Ralph Kramden-like bursts of misogyny and callous superiority. Goodwin’s Agnes whimpered and acquiesced like an ineffectual 1950s TV mom.

Most importantly, Agnes and Michael don’t seem to love one another. They say they love each other when the script tells them to say it, but both actors failed to convey authentic emotion. In the midst of heated battles and unconvincing compromises, the audience couldn’t help but wonder why these two stay together, and why they got married in the first place.

Clearly, director Yurgaitis did not have his actors ready for opening night. Goodwin and Jackam dropped lines and moved uncertainly about the stage, and both actors seemed hesitant during the musical numbers. Goodwin and Jackam sang capably, but not well enough to make up for so

many acting deficiencies.

Yurgaitis, who directed a vivid production of Neil Simon’s “The Good Doctor” at the North Coast Rep this summer, generated only sporadic moments of humor and poignancy in “I Do! I Do!.” The wedding night sequence and Agnes’ traumatic pregnancy drew a few laughs, but these moments are too few. For the most part, this laborious 2 1/2-hour production dragged.

The music, performed by a three-member band, was a trifle shrill and tinny. Schmidt’s compositions seem to be designed for a more full-bodied orchestra, and the keyboard-drum-bass ensemble didn’t generate enough resonance.

Scenic designer Ocie Robinson continued to make a lot out of a little. His simple yet artistic bedroom set is the strongest component of this show, simultaneously providing functional acting space and reinforcing the “him vs. her” strains within the script.

Lighting designer Terry Price created strong visuals but made a huge mistake when he elected to use spotlights in the intimate Old Town venue. The use of spotlights is unnecessary and distracting, especially when the performers moved to the left and the spotlights moved to the right. The decision undermined Price’s otherwise evocative lighting schematic.

John-Bryan Davis and Vikki Young did a commendable job with the costumes, particularly with an ornate, feather-ridden hat that becomes a central metaphor in the marriage. The team’s costumes successfully span 50 years, a consuming task in and of itself.

The Theatre in Old Town’s two previous offerings--”Side by Side by Sondheim” and “Starting Here, Starting Now”--this season have been musical revues, music-driven shows that rely more on singing than acting. “I Do! I Do!” requires healthy doses of both skills, and this two-person cast simply isn’t up to the task.

“I DO! I DO!”

Book and lyrics by Tom Jones. Music by Harvey Schmidt. Director, Daniel Yurgaitis. Musical director, Rand Allen. Sets by Ocie Robinson. Costumes by John-Bryan Davis and Vikki Young. Lights by Terry Price. Stage manager, Connie Di Grazia. With Patti Goodwin and Charles Jackam. At 8 p.m Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 7 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 20 at The Theatre in Old Town, 4040 Twiggs St. Tickets $13-$15. 688-2494.