There are shows you walk out of humming… and there are shows you walk out of wondering what, exactly, just happened.
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, now playing at Coachella Valley Repertory, firmly lives in the second category—and that may be exactly the point.
At its core, this is a time-traveling collision between two people who should never meet. One is Kat, a sleep-deprived single mother, a composer, and a woman running on fumes. The other is Ernest Shackleton—the real-life polar explorer—reimagined here as a romantic, persistent, almost impossibly earnest suitor reaching across time. What unfolds is part musical, part comedy, part duet, and part experiment in endurance—for both the characters and the audience.
Created by Joe DiPietro (book), Brendan Milburn (music), and Val Vigoda (lyrics), the show first premiered in 2014 before making its way Off-Broadway in 2017. It arrives at CVRep now as something that feels both contemporary and oddly out of time—much like its premise.
This is a two-person musical, and that alone deserves respect. For roughly 90 minutes, Sarah Manton (Kat) and Matt Miles (Shackleton) carry the entire production—acting, singing, and at times functioning as musicians—through a continuous back-and-forth that feels less like traditional musical structure and more like a long, evolving duet. Not always polished. Not always symmetrical. But consistently committed.
And commitment is what makes this work.
The musical itself is not built around the kind of songs you leave humming. Instead, it leans into something looser—stream-of-consciousness moments, comedic bursts, and emotional fragments that feel more like thoughts escaping than songs being carefully engineered. At times, it feels almost improvised, as if the characters are discovering the music in real time rather than performing it.
That choice will divide audiences.
There are moments where the tone swings hard—sugary sweet one minute, sharply bitter the next. The humor is often tongue-in-cheek, sometimes landing exactly where intended, sometimes drifting into a space where the audience isn’t quite sure whether to laugh or sit with it. I found myself laughing out loud more than once. I’m not entirely convinced everyone else knew they were allowed to.
Visually, the production leans into a kind of playful theatricality—makeup, wigs, and costumes that at times feel intentionally exaggerated, almost self-aware. There are moments where it borders on looking like something out of a middle school production—and I don’t mean that as a criticism so much as an aesthetic choice. It’s part of the joke. Or at least, part of the risk.
Where the show finds its center is in the relationship.
Shackleton’s relentless admiration of Kat—delivered in a style that feels rooted in another century—is over-the-top, almost absurd at times. And yet, that’s the mechanism. Kat, who is clearly not expecting attention, let alone affection, is suddenly seen. Completely. Repeatedly. Without hesitation. Whether that lands as charming, uncomfortable, or comedic depends entirely on the viewer.
And that tension is what drives the piece forward.
But beneath the humor and the oddity, there is something else working its way through the story—something quieter, and easier to miss if you’re only watching for laughs. This is not just a story about two people connecting across time. It is, in many ways, about the condition of the artist. About exhaustion. About being unseen. About the constant push to create something meaningful while life continues to demand everything else.
The message is not subtle. In fact, it repeats itself often. And in a different era, it might have landed more clearly. Today, it’s easy for an audience to dismiss it, or to leave still laughing without realizing what was being said underneath.
When we walked out, the question was simple: What was that?
And yet, like many pieces that actually have something to say, it didn’t end at the curtain.
Two or three days later, it’s still there—trying to settle into place.
Maybe the simplest way to understand the show is this: it asks you to accept something improbable—a time-traveling explorer and a modern single mother—and then uses that absurdity to talk about something very real. Loneliness. Connection. Recognition. Survival.
Would I recommend it?
Yes.
Not because it’s perfect. It isn’t. Not because it will leave you with a song stuck in your head. It likely won’t. But because it will give you something to sit with—and right now, that may be more valuable.
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me runs through May 10, 2026, at Coachella Valley Repertory in Cathedral City. Tickets are available through CVRep’s website and box office.
And if you leave wondering what you just saw…
give it a day or two.
That’s when the play really begins.
Production Acknowledgment
This production of Ernest Shackleton Loves Me at Coachella Valley Repertory is brought to life by a focused creative team and cast, featuring Sarah Manton (Kat) and Matt Miles (Ernest Shackleton), under the direction of Craig Wells with Stephen Hulsey as music director. The production design and technical team includes Jimmy Cuomo (Set Design), Barbara Matis (Costume Design), Moira Wilkie Whitaker (Lighting Design/Technical Direction), Joshua Adams (Sound Design), Ryan Marquart (Props), Lynda Shaeps (Hair & Makeup), with stage management by John M. Galo and Melina Ginn (Assistant Stage Manager).
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me runs April 22–May 10, 2026 at Coachella Valley Repertory, 68510 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City, CA 92234. Tickets are listed at $60–$110 and can be purchased at cvrep.org, by calling 760-296-2966 ext. 101, or at the CVRep box office. Box office hours are Wednesday–Saturday, noon–4 p.m., and one hour before performances.
Performance schedule is Wednesdays through Sundays, with listed performances at 7 p.m. Wednesday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday through May 10.
About the Author
D. Wesley Spencer, Ph.D ch©., is a writer, actor, director, arts educator, and He is the co-author of Universal Creative Intelligence: How the Arts and Sciences Propel Human Advancement, a book exploring how creative thinking shapes learning, leadership, and human progress.
He teaches communication at College of the Desert. Wesley brings a lifelong passion for theater and storytelling to every review he writes. As a columnist for The Palm Springs Tribune, Wesley covers theater, concerts, film, dining, local talent, and cultural events throughout the Coachella Valley. His reviews are known for their warmth, clarity, and deep respect for the power of the arts and the artists and communities they serve. Wesley Spencer @ 2026 All rights Reserved
Images provided by CVRep. All rights reserved.
Wesley@universalcreativeintelligence.com
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