BYU’s SHE LOVES ME is Lovely

PROVO — She Loves Me is one of the most charming musical comedies in the American Musical lexicon.  Never heard of it?  Maybe you’ll be familiar with the story if you’ve seen some of its adaptions.  Perhaps the classic 1940 movie with James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan, “The Shop Around the Corner?”  No?  How about the 1949 movie musical, “In the Good Old Summertime,” with Judy Garland and Van Johnson?  No, again?  Well, I have a feeling you’ll recognize the story from its most recent adaptation:  “You’ve Got Mail!”  Remember it?  I thought so! That’s the story.

The musical is based upon the 1937 play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, and the plot revolves around Budapest shop employees Georg and Amalia, who, despite being consistently at odds with each other at work, are unaware that each is the other’s secret pen pal met through a lonely-hearts ad.  What you also need to know about She Loves Me is that the music is written by Jerry Bock and the lyrics are by Sheldon Harnick, composer and lyricist of an obscure little musical called, “Fiddler on the Roof.”  So the songs are delightful, lyrical, and glorious.

Originally produced on Broadway in 1963, the show wasn’t financially successful, though it played for 301 performances—back in the day, that wasn’t considered a “success.”  However, over the years it’s become a cult classic and with the screaming success of the 2016 Broadway revival, it has hit the mainstream.

The production at BYU glows with charm.  The great thing about seeing university theatre is basking in the infectious joy and enthusiasm emitting from the stage.  The actors are having the BEST time and we, in turn, have the best time with them.

It’s a talented cast let by Austin Zimmerman as Georg Nowack and Elena Shill as Amalia Balash.  These two actors play off each other so easily and with such honestly, it’s a joy to watch them fall in love.  Zimmerman is an affable and amiable Georg, with a pleasant voice and great comic timing.  Watching him weave in and out of all the shop character relationships is engaging and entertaining.  Shill is a perfect Amalia, whose timing and tone is ideal for the character.  Her almost “screwball” comic timing is adorable and enchanting.  She has a lovely voice that lends itself well to Bock’s music.  The music written for Amalia is legit and hard…and high, but Shill tackles it well, and though her voice is young, she has a strong, lyrical “set of pipes” and her voice will, soon, shatter glass.

The supporting cast is full of delightful characters, and the Brigham Young cast fills out the show nicely. Sam Karlinsey is a winning Arpad Laszlo, Maraczek’s Purfumarie’s delivery boy.  His song “Try Me” is funny and energetic, and Karlinsey fills the stage with teenage ambition and fun.  Rad Edwards, as Ladislav Sipos, the clerk who will say and do anything NOT to lose his job, and is the shop’s “therapist”, is fantastic.  His song “Perspective” where he describes how he’s arrived at his obsequious “yes-man,” is both endearing and comic. Rahim Pullom as Steven Kodaly, the playboy and, “cad-about-town” is perfectly smarmy and odious.  With a bright tenor voice, his songs, “Ilona” and “Grand Knowing You,” are well-sung and engaging. Corwin Fox as Mr. Maraczek does well.  It’s hard for a young actor to play a 60-year-old man convincingly, but Fox is an effective Maraczek who brings some sobering realism into this musical comedy.  

But a real standout is Bailey Smith as Ilona Ritter, the not-quite-bright sales clerk that is a sucker for a “handsome profile.”  She is a fabulous dancer, has a knockout voice, and really good comic “chops.”  Her duet with Shill, “I Don’t Know His Name,” as well as her songs “I Resolve” and “A Trip to the Library,” are enchanting, funny, and perfect.

The ensemble members are talented dancers and singers who fill the stage with song and dance.  The choreography by Brooke Storheim is first class.  It adds to the evening and is performed well by the ensemble.  Director Geoffrey Reynolds moves the character well on the thrust stage and utilizes the simple colorful, effective, and excellent sets by Richard Lorig very well.  My only complaint with Reynolds’ directing is that, often, he doesn’t let the songs or scenes “land.”  These songs and scenes are constructed to a poignant conclusion, and when dancers enter, or when actors turn and move upstage too early, the ending moment doesn’t land and that robs the audience of that satisfying clinching of the scene and the character relationships.  

The costumes by River Mecham glisten with jewel-toned 1950s period accuracy and are delicious to watch. However, and I know this may be nitpicking, but this story originally takes place in Hungary in 1937, not in the 1950s.  In the 1950s, Hungary was a Soviet satellite state under a brutal and terrifying Stalin regime and remained under communist rule until 1989.  So part of the wonder and lighthearted charm of this story is, decidedly, it being in the golden age and beauty of Eastern Europe before World War II.  It would be like setting “The Music Man” in 1940s Germany.  Part of the show’s emotional grasp, for some, is realizing that the way of life of all of these characters will soon be upended by Hitler and the devastating upheaval of World War II.  Wanting a “retro 1950s” aesthetic without considering the historical implications is a major dramaturgical error.

But put that aside, because BYU’s production of She Loves Me is wonderful and worth it.  Go as soon as possible.