{"id":128444,"date":"2026-01-22T23:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T23:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/128444\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T23:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T23:38:14","slug":"after-a-4-year-layoff-and-two-children-local-actor-lisa-kuchinski-returns-to-the-stage-in-i-love-you-youre-perfect-now-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/128444\/","title":{"rendered":"After a 4-year layoff and two children, local actor Lisa Kuchinski returns to the stage in ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lisa Kuchinski\u2019s last show was \u201cThe Little Shop of Horrors\u201d at The Belle Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was four months pregnant with my daughter Olivia,\u201d Kuchinski noted.<\/p>\n

Four years and another daughter later, she has made a triumphant although unexpected return to the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was cast as Hope in \u2018Anything Goes,\u2019 Kuchinski recounted. \u201cI had one solo and a couple ensemble numbers. So three weeks ago, I went to New York for New Year’s to visit a friend, and Tyler [Young, the director] was like, what do you think about doing a four-person show? Sorry, \u2018Anything Goes\u2019 is canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n

That four-person show is Joe DiPietro\u2019s musical comedy \u201cI Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change.\u201d It explores the journey from dating and waiting, love and marriage to in-laws and newborns, trips in the family car and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Lisa Kuchinski takes ride with Ethan MacKay ‘On the Highway of Love.’<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually a better fit for a working mom with a toddler and an infant.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy age and then being a mother and just life and experiences, I feel very connected to this show in different ways. I just understand things more in life now than I did years ago for sure,\u201d Kuchinski said.<\/p>\n

There have been a few changes since she last performed, such as less focus on written scripts and more reliance on digital apps. But one thing that hasn\u2019t changed is Kuchinski\u2019s strong voice and musicality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change\u201d is onstage at The Belle Theatre in Cape Coral through Jan. 24.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Lisa Kuchinski and Justin Price in ‘A Stud and a Babe’ vignette in ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.’ <\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION:<\/p>\n

\u201cI Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change” is a comedy with book and lyrics by Joe DePietro and music by Jimmy Roberts. Through sketches and songs, this hilarious revue pays tribute to those who have loved and lost, to those who have fallen on their face at the portal of romance and to those who have dared to ask, \u201cSay, what are you doing Saturday night?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lisa<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award as Outstanding Off-Broadway musical in 1997.<\/p>\n

History<\/p>\n

In 1995, \u201cI Love You…\u201d premiered at New Jersey’s American Stage Company. In the middle of one early performance, a woman in the audience blurted out, \u201cThis is my life!\u201d From that moment on, the creators knew they were on to something.<\/p>\n

The following season, \u201cI Love You…\u201d moved to New Haven’s Long Wharf Theater. Then, on Aug. 1, 1996, \u201cI Love You…\u201d opened off-Broadway at The Westside Theater.<\/p>\n

The musical was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award as Outstanding Off-Broadway musical in 1997.<\/p>\n

It ran Off Broadway for 5,003 performances. When it closed on July 27, 2008, \u201cI Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change\u201d had become the second longest-running show and longest-running revue in off-Broadway history.<\/p>\n

The musical has been showcased in more than 250 cities worldwide, including London, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Sydney, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

In addition to its enormous success, the off-Broadway production was the site of over 50 marriage proposals.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Prior to her layoff, Kuchinski regularly performed at a variety of Southwest Florida venues, including Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, Cultural Park Theater, and TheatreZone. <\/p>\n

More on Kuchinski<\/p>\n

Prior to her layoff, Kuchinski regularly performed at a variety of Southwest Florida venues, including Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, Cultural Park Theater (where she was also Director of Fundraising), TheatreZone, Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance and New Phoenix Theatre. She also honed her skills as a cast member on the Murder Mystery Dinner Train.<\/p>\n

Some of her most memorable local roles included Roxy in \u201cChicago\u201d (for which she won a Cultural Park Theatre Marquee Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical), Sister Mary Theresa in \u201cSister Act\u201d (for which she received a Cultural Park Theater Marquee Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play or Musical), Alanna Dale in \u201cMarian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood\u201d for Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance, a phantom in Richard O\u2019Brien\u2019s \u201cRocky Horror Show,\u201d Harriet in \u201cWonderful Life\u201d (at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre), Gilmer in \u201cGodspell\u201d (for Herb Strauss Theatre), Sandra in \u201cGodspell\u201d (for Theatre Zone\/FGCU), Roz in \u201cMoon over Buffalo,\u201d Liat in \u201cSouth Pacific,\u201d and Helene in \u201cSweet Charity\u201d at Cultural Park. She also appeared in New Play Contest winner \u201cRepossessed\u201d at Theatre Conspiracy.<\/p>\n

A singer and dancer, Kuchinski also performed in \u201cIrving Berlin\u2019s White Christmas,\u201d \u201cPeter Pan\u201d and \u201cJersey Girls.\u201d She was also a swing in \u201cHa! Ha! Ho! The Holiday Show\u201d in the Off Broadway Palm in 2022.<\/p>\n

Kuchinski actually got a late start in theater.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t act in middle or high school, and I went to work in the construction industry when I was 21. But [then I went back to school at Edison [now Florida SouthWestern State College] to get my AA [Associate of Arts] degree. One day, I saw a poster for a theatre class. It sounded interesting, so I enrolled.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Kuchinski dropped the class a short time later. By chance, she bumped into Florida SouthWestern Stage College Theatre Professor Stuart Brown a handful of days later. He asked why she\u2019d dropped his class.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course required each student to audition for the play. I\u2019d never auditioned for anything and had no idea how to go about doing an audition, so I figured I was in over my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown wouldn\u2019t be fobbed off that easily, telling her that he already had a part in mind for her. It turned out to be a supporting role, and that\u2019s all it took. She\u2019s been consumed by everything theater ever since.<\/p>\n

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Florida Gulf Coast University.<\/p>\n

\"Justin<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Justin Price, Lisa Kuchinski, Ethan MacKay and Grace Koltz in ‘And Now the Parents’ vignette in ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.’ <\/p>\n

Getting thrown in the deep end<\/p>\n

Kuchinski had mapped out a slow, deliberate return to acting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started doing the ‘Joey and Maria’s Comedy Italian Wedding’ show with that troupe down there in the Naples area,\u201d said Kuchinski. \u201cThey were looking for somebody. It\u2019s just on a Saturday night, you get paid and you do this fun wedding comedy skit. You sing a song here and there and you dance and you have fun. So, I started doing that because it was just like a low commitment thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But plans go awry.<\/p>\n

She ran into Dave Rode and came in October to Belle Theatre to see him and Grace Koltz in \u201cYoung Frankenstein.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, man, it’d be nice to be in a show again,\u201d Kuchinski recalled. \u201cYou know, I’ve just missed it. I’ve just missed it terribly the last few years. Like something was missing in my life. So I just wanted to get back into it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuchinski and Belle Theatre founder and Artistic Director Tyler Young have history.
\u201cI’ve known Tyler since he was a teenager,\u201d Kuchinski said, laughing. \u201cWe used to do shows together at Cultural Park and Broadway Palm, or he used to work there and then I was working there.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, she decided to audition for \u201c9 to 5.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t land that role, but Young cast her in \u201cAnything Goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But life gets in the way, and Young had to table \u201cAnything Goes\u201d because of a dearth of actors to fill the male roles in the musical. So, he proposed having her perform in \u201cI Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

\"When<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

When you bring Masters & Johnson to your lovemaking, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed.’ <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t know the show,\u201d Kuchinski admitted. \u201cI\u2019d heard of it. But I\u2019d never seen it. So I kind of like looked at it, and I was like, oh, this is a cute show. But I was in New York.\u201d
By the time she returned, it was just two weeks before opening.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a professional show, it\u2019s usually nine or 10 rehearsals and you open, but you\u2019re rehearsing all day long. That wasn\u2019t an option. I have a day job and two small children at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, Kuchinski was out of practice and there were more than a dozen songs, numerous lines and a lot of blocking to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s been really very difficult for me having to learn so much so quickly, just coming back into theater,\u201d Kuchinski conceded. \u201cI was very intimidated at first. I was like, am I going to be able to do this? And then all of a sudden my brain just kind of soaked up everything and I was like, OK, great. I\u2019ve still got it. I still got it. It’s like that [Celine Dion] song, \u201cIt’s All Coming Back to Me Now.\u201d I feel like I didn’t lose it, but I just kind of wasn’t using it \u2026 aside from karaoke.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, there was a complication. Young decided to stage a newer revival of \u201cI Love You \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had newer references and things in it, but we couldn’t really find much out there on the web about it,\u201d Kuchinski noted. \u201cWith the original, there\u2019s YouTube videos, there’s soundtracks. But there isn\u2019t much for the revival.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a lack of video source material, the cast relied instead on Music Director Carrie Guffy.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe taught us our harmonies and played all of our parts,\u201d Kuchinski explained. \u201cWe recorded it so we had the music to listen to. She was a huge help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ethan<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Ethan MacKay, Grace Koltz and Justin Price hoist Lisa Kuchinski on a chair in ‘He Called Me’ during ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.’ <\/p>\n

Going forward<\/p>\n

Kuchinski definitely plans to do more shows, although not at the pace she performed prior to the births of Olivia and Azalea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to ease my way back in, kind of tap my toe back in because it does take me away from my children. They\u2019ve been missing me,\u201d said Kuchinski. \u201cWith sickness and doctors and work and everything, it’s kind of a lot. So maybe a couple of shows a season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuchinski finds motherhood and work fulfilling, but performing makes her whole.
\u201cIt’s kind of like therapy,\u201d she said, sighing. \u201cI just eat it up and enjoy it. I feel like it’s healing my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Grace<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Grace Koltz has second thoughts during ‘Cantata Reprise, Wedding Vows.’ <\/p>\n

About the playwright<\/p>\n

Joe DiPietro has won two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. His musicals and plays have received thousands of productions across the country and around the world.<\/p>\n

His Broadway credits include \u201cNice Work If You Can Get It\u201d starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O\u2019Hara (10 Tony Award nominations, including Best Book, Best Musical), \u201cMemphis\u201d (4 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score,) \u201cAll Shook Up\u201d and \u201cLiving on Love\u201d (starring Ren\u00e9e Fleming).<\/p>\n

DiPietro\u2019s Off-Broadway credits include \u201cErnest Shackleton Loves Me,\u201d \u201cClever Little Lies\u201d (starring Marlo Thomas), \u201cThe Toxic Avenger\u201d (OCC Award \u2013 Best off-Broadway Musical), \u201cThe Thing About Men\u201d (OCC Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical), the much-produced comedy, \u201cOver the River and Through the Woods,\u201d and \u201cI Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change\u201d (the longest running musical revue in Off-Broadway history.)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

The cast: Justin Price, Lisa Kuchinski, Grace Koltz and Ethan MacKay. <\/p>\n

Other recent regional credits include \u201cThe Second Mrs. Wilson\u201d (Long Wharf Theatre & George Street Playhouse), \u201cHollywood and Chasing the Song\u201d (La Jolla Playhouse), \u201cThe Last Romance\u201d (The Old Globe) and \u201cCreating Claire\u201d (George Street Playhouse.)
His murder mystery, \u201cThe Art of Murder,\u201d won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Play and his adaptation of Schnitzler\u2019s \u201cLa Ronde\u201d is the longest running Fringe play in London history.<\/p>\n

He sits on the board of Only Make Believe, a charity dedicated to bringing interactive, therapeutic theatre to chronically ill children.<\/p>\n

Support for WGCU\u2019s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lisa Kuchinski\u2019s last show was \u201cThe Little Shop of Horrors\u201d at The Belle Theatre. \u201cI was four months…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":{"0":"post-128444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}