First Date: At Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts

As a Dating Expert for the leading online dating site in the UK, I recently wrote a blog entitled: 7 Ways a Smart Woman Can Make Sure Her First Date Isn't the Last. After seeing Saturday’s opening night performance of First Date, I feel pretty sure that the main character, Casey, a serial dater, didn’t read my article. Within ten minutes of her blind date with a nice, nerdy, blind-date virgin named, Aaron, she broke every dating etiquette rule in the book. From the get-go, this leading lady was rude, bitchy, argumentative, and judgmental.

Anyone who’s been on a first date from hell (and who hasn’t?) will relate to First Date. We all know you can’t make this stuff up when it comes to the things we’ve seen and experienced out there in the dating world, but this play isn’t just fun and games: It’s thought provoking, as it tries hard to shed some light on the real reasons why so many people are afraid to let love in.

First Date ­is a contemporary romantic comedy/musical written by Alan Zachery, Michael Weiner, and Austin Winsberg, originally produced on Broadway in 2013 at the Longacre Theatre. The play’s structure follows Aristotle’s three unities of action, time, and place: it’s all about the date, which unfolds in real time over the course of one evening; and in one location – a chic restaurant complete with a gay, singing waiter.

The musical opens with a song called “The One,” which poses the question, “How does your heart chose who to cast in a partner for the night or for forever?” Now, that’s the million dollar question that has plagued humankind since the dawn of time.

During this 90 minute, one-act play, which is expertly directed by Jordon Hue, Casey, a commitment-phobe, who her sister calls, “A Relationship Assassin,” and Aaron, a man who was left at the altar by a “manic-depressive-ball-busting-beast of a woman,” entertain us with their dating disaster antics, which includes some funny bits about Google-stalking, and whether to choose a salad or a burger for dinner, and how that earth-shattering choice might impact their quest for true love.

TracyLynn Conner, sparkles as the spunky, sassy, sexy, and sarcastic Casey, and we find ourselves crying along with her as she sings her heart out to the song, “Safer.” Yes, she knows she has issues, but she has come to believe that it’s safer to rely on no one, but herself. She has always been drawn to the bad boys, who break her heart, and she wonders if she’ll ever change her evil ways.

Just for the record, TracyLynn isn’t a newcomer to Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, in fact, she thrilled her audiences in 2014 with her powerful portrayal of Sara in Murder Ballad. I fully expect, any day now, to see her name in lights on Broadway.

Aaron, as played by James Schultz, is a very likable and endearing character. He wins us over with his honesty, his kindness, and his truth-telling. Aaron’s best moment happens when he exorcizes the memory of his cruel, ex-fiancée via a riveting song and dance number.

The supporting cast, Jeremy Hudson, Samm Carrol, Charles Jacker, Lauren Gobes, and Michael Newman morph throughout the play, portraying everything from Aaron’s dead Jewish grandmother, who’s shocked to learn that her beloved grandson is even considering dating a Shiksa, to Casey’s overbearing, overprotective gay BFF who keeps bombarding her with a “Bail Out,” phone call, to lovers past and children future. These five talented performers form a tight SNL-type ensemble and artfully shape-shift throughout the play, amazing the audience with their versatility and stamina.

By the way, this is a great play to take someone to on a first date. It’s definitely an icebreaker, and afterwards, it could give two, tongued-tied, first-date-traumatized people an awful lot to talk about!

The play runs from now until March 26, at the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. Main Street, Smithtown. Call the Box Office for tickets at 631-724-3700 and visit their web site for details: http://www.smithtownpac.org/