First kisses get as overproduced as an infomercial in “Nobody Loves You.”
A comedy of dating manners by Itamar Moses (book and lyrics) and Gaby Alter (music and lyrics), this cheeky musical spoofs reality TV and the vanishing-attention-span culture that’s hopelessly addicted to it.
Why bother to meet people IRL when you can sit on your coach getting carpal tunnel from swiping right?
Moses, the Berkeley native who so perfectly captured the heart-stopping ethos of lost romance in the exquisite “The Band’s Visit,” here delivers the fitfully funny futility of trying to make real love connections in the age of the selfie.
Freshly dumped Jeff (A.J. Holmes) a disgruntled philosophy grad student, goes on a tacky dating show to get even with his ex. Of course, in keeping with the inviolable rules of rom-com land, he soon falls head over elbow pads for Jenny (a wry turn by Kuhoo Verma) a jaded show producer who yearns to be a feminist documentarian. They instantly spark.
He hates the commodification of courtship rituals. She hates “guys that use their hatred of clichés as an excuse not to do anything nice for you.”
The sweetly genuine chemistry between Holmes and Verma is one of the most endearing aspects of this show, which goes on a bit longer than its slight charms warrant.
The snarky commentary on the social media age comes off as a bit old-hat, and too many of the odd couple tropes feel predictable. Meet the party girl (Molly Hager) and the goody two shoes (Seth Hanson) making a splash in the hot tub and the feisty single girl (Ana Yi Puig) who suddenly realizes that she needs to love herself first. Cue the violins.
Still, from the staged meet-cutes to the unctuous host Byron (a wonderfully cheesy turn by Jason Veasey), the trappings here are so fun that it distracts you from the hackneyed bits, at least at first.
Unfortunately the uneven 105-minute show has a few more songs (largely forgettable) than it can buoy through sheer exuberance.
Verma nevertheless imbues Jenny’s tremulous anthem with so many shades of emotional ambivalence that she gives the show a heart. More scenes that felt raw or real would more effectively ground this light-hearted lampoon.
ACT director Pam MacKinnon keeps the pace snappy and the vibes bright, like reality TV itself, but “Nobody Loves You” just doesn’t give you all the feels.
Contact Karen D’Souza at [email protected].
‘NOBODY LOVES YOU’
Book and lyrics by Itamar Moses, music and lyrics by Gaby Alter; presented by American Conservatory Theater
Through: March 30
Where: Toni Rembe Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $25-$130; act-sf.org
