She Loves Me, the 1963 Broadway musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick is an adaptation of the 1937 play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklós László. The show was a Tony Award nominee for Best Musical, among other categories. (Bock and Harnick won the following year with Fiddler on the Roof.)
She Loves Me tells the tale of several workers in a small perfume shop whose lives turn on their relationships with each other. Co-workers Amalia and George are not very fond of each other, but thrill to their contact with their pen-pals whom they have never met. An obvious plot twist brings these two together and happiness is eventually secured.
ATI’s marvelously directed and precisely performed production, is endlessly entertaining – a soaring couplet of music and comedy (Mrs. K and I agreed, we haven’t laughed so much in quite a while). The cast shines in every scene as the story ranges from humorous to thoughtful to touching.
Sophie Jones and Jacob Butler star in ATI’s She Loves Me. (Photos provided by ATI)
Director Richard J Roberts, choreographer Carol Worcel and musical director Nathan Perry use every talent of every company member to great effect. Sophie Jones and Jacob Butler are perfectly matched as Amalia Balash and Georg Nowack. Both are gifted young performers who have top level acting and vocal skills, which blossom further in their joined efforts.
Perfection appears in the other roles as well: Nathalie Cruz is delightful as Ilona Ritter, dealing with the foils and folly of Eric Olson’s oily Steven Kodaly; John Vessels is hilarious (even more so than is usual!) as fellow clerk Ladislav Sipos; and Darrin Murrell is wonderful as shop-owner Mr. Maraczek. Ben Friesen adds an instantly loveable Arpad Laszlo to the mix. Brett Mutter is wildly memorable and original as The Head Waiter, spilling over with character. Finally, ensemble members Cynthia Collins, Carrie Neal, Elizabeth Akers, Terrence Lambert, and Josh Maldonado all offer fine characterizations and musical support throughout the show.
Highlights for me included any song by Ms. Jones and/or Mr. Butler, John Vessels’ impressive “Perspective” and the entire cast’s hectic “Twelve Days to Christmas.”
Nathan Perry’s solid and small orchestra is more than up to the task of this beautiful score. Brittany Kugler’s costumes matched with Drew Bryson’s wigs (lots and lots of wigs!) are keys to the production. And the nifty set by P Bernard Killian is uncluttered and appropriately illuminated by Dustin Drickman’s light design.
Bottom line: She Loves Me is often mentioned as a “favorite show” – and I can see why this is so. The perfect (I keep using that word) structure of the story, the expressive songs, the enriching comedy all blend together to provide a surefire entertainment – and Actors Theatre of Indiana has a huge hit on their hands!
She Loves Me continues at ATI’s Studio Theatre in the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel through Nov. 17. You can get information about the schedule and tickets by calling (317) 843-3800 or by logging on to atistage.org.
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