By Marilyn Lester***The long-awaited musical, Love Quirks, has finally opened at the AMT theater after a dozen years of fits and starts, which included the now all too familiar pandemic pause. A kind of take on “Friends” for the twenty-first century, the two-act work is about four cohabiting thirty-somethings as they explore the rocky path of love and friendship. Love Quirks spins out as a pleasant romp through the modern mine-field of romantic and sexual relations, its strength in the delightful music by Seth Bisen-Hersh.
Love Quirks was originally conceived in 2010 as a song cycle written by composer-songwriter Bisen-Hersh. 
The book by Mark Childers was added a relatively short time later, based on true events, and recently updated. The story centers on Chris (Matthew Schatz, the handsome straight one; Ryan (Erin Lamar), the gay flirty one; Stephanie (Lauren Testerman) the mopey-angry divorced one; and Lili (Maggie McDowell) the in-denial unrequited one. What these characters have in common is their disillusion about love, and yes, their propensity for quirkiness. Chris and Stephanie have locked horns in the past. She still won’t forgive him. Lili and Ryan were quite an item while he was figuring out his sexuality. She still longs for him.
Love ain’t easy—this we know, and many a creative work has dealt with neurotic love, but this quartet suffers not so much from eccentricity as from a lack of character development. Rooting for them, despite their bright optimism, isn’t always easy. The predictable story arc ensures a happy ending, but achieving that goal, even with humor dotted into the mix, requires suspending a wish for more complexity. The cast does yeoman work with the material before them, but can only take the thin plot so far. Love Quirks is thus best enjoyed without expecting too much and taking it at face value.
What does work admirably is Bisen-Hersh’s melodic score. Bisen-Hersh is a prolific composer whose melodies and lyrics are easy on the ear and generally clever. The cast are all able vocalists and do justice to these story songs that comprise the original song cycle—the
original of which very ably stood (and stands) on its own. In this form, the quirkiness comes across with wit, the whole free to fly unfettered. In fact, the Love Quirks studio album was recorded in 2011, with Crystal Davidson, Rori Nogee, Nathan Freeman and Brian Shaw; a new cast album is now also available.
Brian Childers’ direction kept the pace moving. However, scenes played on the very elevated balcony above the playing area were spatially awkward. Scene changes also required a great deal of set pieces to be constantly shuffled, adding distraction and further fragmentation of a smooth through-line. Love Quirks could also have worked more solidly without projected video on a high screen above the stage area.
Music direction was by Austin Nuckols. Love Quirks also featured lighting and sound by Rocky Noel, set design by Josh Iacovelli and costumes by Edward Kershaw.
Love Quirks runs 2 hours with one 10-minute intermission. Final performance is Friday, September 2, 2022. Tickets are available here. For more information, go to www.lovequirks.com
AMT Theater is located at 354 West 45th Street, NYC
