Love-You-Grams to wow recipients

The Bloomington Playwrights Project promises to strike love – or embarrassment – into the hearts of IU students and Bloomington residents with live, personalized performances anytime, anywhere Feb. 13 and 14.

The special service, dubbed “Love-You-Grams,” features trained actors and actresses who take names of recipients submitted by friends and significant others and perform skits, serenade or recite poetry for them.

“In a nutshell, Love-You-Grams are a truly unique way to impress or make a spectacle of a friend, lover or professor,” said Carmen Blubaugh, development assistant for the playwrights project and IU graduate student. “With this gift, you take the ‘Hallmark’ out of a Hallmark holiday.”

For the past five years, actors have successfully romanced Love-You-Gram recipients at numerous venues, Gabe Gloden, playwrights project managing director, said.

“We recited a poem for a 95-year-old lady at a retirement mess hall,” Gloden said. “She was laughing the whole time.”

Bloomington Playwrights Project Education Director Breshaun-Birene Joyner said audiences tend to gather around the performances even though there is no tangible stage.

“I read to a professor in front of his class,” Joyner said. “He was embarrassed, but his students were laughing and taking pictures on their phones.”

Love-You-Grams have also stirred romance in doctor’s offices, surprise at residential doorsteps, confusion in classrooms and hilarity in bars, Gloden said.

“The best part is their reactions,” he said.

Proceeds from Love-You-Gram sales go to support the playwrights project and general arts around Bloomington, according to a Bloomington Playwrights Project press release. Orders cost $25 for the general public and $15 for IU students.

“It’s a nice fundraiser for the theater,” Gloden said. “It ... targets a different audience who normally wouldn’t see our shows.”


How to order a Love-You-Gram

1. Designate by phone or e-mail a time and place to find the target loved one by calling 334-1188 during business hours (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday) or by mailing carmenblubaugh@gmail.com.

2. Include in the e-mail, voicemail or phone conversation the name of the Love-You-Gram recipient, the personal message for the recipient, the requester’s phone number and a time and place of delivery for the performers.

3. Pay for the order with a credit card over the phone or mail a check made out to Bloomington Playwrights Project to 107 W. Ninth St.

4. Ensure the loved one will be at the specified location. If plans go amiss, Blubaugh said failure to deliver is not an option. “We don’t give up,” Blubaugh said. “If the first time doesn’t work, we’ll do it again.”