By Jacqueline Stewart (Guest Reviewer)

Ally Tanzillo in Tell Me About You photo credit to Ryan Fagan.

“You don’t need to be a seasoned theatre-goer to enjoy every second of this show. There is dancing, singing, and my personal favorite: an oddly specific powerpoint presentation.”

Written and performed by Ally Tanzillo, “Tell Me About You” was an exceptionally captivating experience from curtain to bow. 

This one-person powerhouse of a show takes us through a first date in real time. We get to experience the date from the perspective of the lucky soul on the other side of the table. The date begins with awkward, forced chit-chat, as first dates often do, and — without spoiling the fruit of the show before you get to experience it yourself — let’s just say things soon unravel to take a series of side-splitting turns. If you’ve done any amount of dating in this modern era, you have either been a version of this person or been on a date with a version of this person. Or… perhaps even at both at one point or another. The show begins at a cocktail table over a bottle of wine meant to be shared, a chardonnay which is then ultimately consumed sip by sip by only one half of the pair as the date awkwardly unfolds. The dating app frontier presents such a bizarre experience to everyone brave enough to participate in it and the show is a brilliant reflection of that. So much so, in fact, that it is honestly impossible to suss out what might be autobiographical and what might be a fabrication designed to gift us a hearty laugh that is equal parts validation and cringe.

Ally sells this fumbling experience with a captivating and infectious verve as they make expert use of the space. Their varied pace was brilliantly executed to be as harried and frantic or as awkward and lingering as it needed to be in a given moment. Parts of the show at times almost felt like standup as they monologued their character’s nonlinear life experiences, nearly ignoring the poor soul across from them. Carrying an entire show by one’s self is no easy feat, and this show is a testament to incredible skill and refined talent. 

You don’t need to be a seasoned theatre-goer to enjoy every second of this show. There is dancing, singing, and my personal favorite: an oddly specific powerpoint presentation. Although very quirky and unique, the show is hilariously relatable. I highly recommend this show for a date night or night out with friends. It was such non-stop fun that when Ally took their bow I thought it was part of the show, because there was no earthly way an entire show had already gone by. Forty-five very enjoyable minutes had passed by me in a wink! This show is well worth the very modest price of entry and I highly recommend that audiences make it out to Live Theater Workshop to experience the same delight that I did. 

Tell Me About You runs through March 11th at Live Theatre Workshop. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.livetheatreworkshop.org/shows/etcetera-now.html or by calling (520) 327-4242.