Like marriage, musical revival has two sides

As the early excitement of romance dwindles into the dull yet demanding routine of family life, a husband and wife try to buck up their spirits by reminding themselves, “Love is what makes it sort of fun.”

“Sort of.” Those two little words indicate so much: a dash of feistiness yet a troublesome tendency toward wishy-washiness.

Such contrary impulses are typical of the 1966 musical “I Do! I Do!” With its dramatic core provided by the Jan de Hartog play “The Fourposter” and a score by “The Fantasticks” team of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, this two-actor showpiece endures because it is hard-working, thrifty and predictable. But let’s be frank: It is also, for long stretches, exceedingly blah, even when given as solid a production as it currently receives from McCoy Rigby Entertainment and La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Director Will Mackenzie oversaw a 1996 off-Broadway revival starring Karen Ziemba and David Garrison. Here, he works with Brad Little, one in the cadre of actors who’ve become associated with the title role in “The Phantom of the Opera,” and his real-life wife, Barbara McCulloh, who has played Mrs. Darling in the McCoy Rigby revival of “Peter Pan.” He’s a burnished baritone; she’s an amber soprano. They sound lovely together, and married just shy of 16 years, they are spontaneously playful and fond.

The story charts 50 years in the marriage of well-off Michael and Agnes, beginning in the 1890s. He has a tendency to be self-centered and helpless; she has a sharp sense of humor and enough backbone for the both of them. Shaped originally for the talents of Robert Preston and Mary Martin, the musical is at its best when she’s grunting out the Gettysburg Address to distract herself from labor pains or when, in the midst of a spat about annoying habits, she quietly skewers him with, “You chew in your sleep.”

For every good song in this operetta- and vaudeville-inflected score, there are two unexceptional ones, and as the marriage devolves into too-predictable crises or stills to stagnation, the show’s momentum similarly stalls. The breakout song -- the pop-chart hit “My Cup Runneth Over” -- is held in reserve, in this presentation, until the second act. That’s a lose-win proposition that comes out as a draw. The wife’s fantasy revenge, the zesty “Flaming Agnes,” is too lightly comic here, reducing this would-be showstopper to merely ho-hum.

Otherwise, the production is well-handled. The dual-piano accompaniment -- by Steven Smith and musical director Darryl Archibald -- accents each mood while remaining steadfastly attuned to the singing. The Victorian set (by John Iacovelli) is handsome; the changing-with-the-decades costumes (Lisa Zinni) are lovely to look at; and the lighting (R. Kent Sheranian) is warm.

Such qualities tend to sustain the presentation, holding out the promise of future contentment, though the current patch may be a bit of a slog.

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daryl.miller@latimes.com

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‘I Do! I Do!’

Where: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd.

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays

Ends: April 27

Price: $37.50 and $45

Contact: (562) 944-9801,

www.lamiradatheatre.com

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes