‘She Loves Me’ @ Theatre Frisco
Photos by Alex Rain Photography
—Jan Farrington
If you’re a fan of old movies, you probably know the plot of the musical She Loves Me, playing through August 11 at Theatre Frisco. This is a sweet, funny, lively show; major kudos to director Andi Allen, and to the fine singers (and live band!) who do right by the show’s charming, challenging, and much-loved songs.
She Loves Me is the story of The Shop Around the Corner (1940, Jimmy Stewart & Margaret Sullavan). It’s the story of In the Good Old Summertime (1949, Judy Garland & Van Johnson). And it’s the story of You’ve Got Mail, for Pete’s sake (1998, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan).
Two clerks work together in a shop (or, in Mail, own rival book stores). They seemingly can’t stand one another—could it be love?—but don’t know they are communicating anonymously through letters/emails, exchanging ideas and dreams and advice.
Hungarian Miklós László’s 1937 play Parfumerie was the source story—and it took a couple of hit movies before it came full circle, back to the stage as a 1963 Broadway show, with music/lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!), and a book by Joe Masteroff.
In 1993 I saw She Loves Me in NYC—the show’s first Broadway revival since its opening 30 years earlier. The ‘63 show had been a modest hit, but something had changed, and the revival was a smash hit. Why? Most likely, because hundreds of colleges and community theaters and high schools had put on She Loves Me during the intervening years. And an amazing number of musical theater folk (actors and audiences) didn’t just like the show. They loved it.
Director Allen sets a lively pace, and has a cast of super-good singers. Soprano Samantha Snow sings beautifully as new employee Amalia, one of the “pen pals.” Her role includes songs in typical Broadway style, but also numbers that call for an operatic voice—and Snow brings it off beautifully, especially in her giddy “Vanilla Ice Cream.” As clerk Georg (the other letter writer), Jacob Catalano has a true music-theater voice, and a fresh-faced, slightly shy manner about him. His “She Loves Me” is, for this quiet guy, quite an explosion of music, sung with gusto and the bright eyes of new love. Together, Amalia and Georgd are adorable.
And lucky them, they’re surrounded by memorable characters who have their own moments to sing out and take the spotlight. Elise Danielle James shines as easily wooed clerk Ilona, who falls into the clutches of a skirt-chasing coworker (played with just the right amount of oily lustfulness by Alexandru Istarte). Her songs are little marvels of character painting: “I Resolve” when she decides to change her ways, “A Trip to the Library” (hilarious and touching) when a couple of dreams come true.
Robert San Juan plays shop owner Mr. Maraczek, who clearly has some secret trouble that’s coloring his mood. From his wistful waltz song “Days Gone By,” he turns progressively more angry and erratic, especially toward former favorite employee Georg. What’s up? We wait to see.
Grant Hollowell is Sipos, Georg’s friend and fellow clerk, who advises him in “Perspective”—one of the score’s most unexpected and funny numbers—-to keep his cool. Even the shop’s delivery boy Arpad (Dylan Ciminna), angling to become a grown-up clerk, takes center stage to sell the energetic song “Try Me.”
Smaller roles connect, too: Bayley Owen is tightly wound and amusing as a head waiter trying to maintain a “romantic atmosphere” for lovers. A pair of ensemble members play strolling musicians at the place, backing off when Amalia lets them know her Important Date is a disaster…no violins, please. The ensemble handles tango dancing, Christmas quartet-ing, and roles as frenzied shoppers counting the days ‘til December 25.
She Loves Me is a big old-fashioned show with a long list of creatives (see below!). But the bottom line is, it’s a chance to catch a classic early-’60s musical with an overflow of tunes by a great team of songwriters—who were busy working on Fiddler as She Loves Me hit Broadway. In both shows, Bock and Harnick had a nice knack for showing that “little people” had lives that were important too—and worth singing about.
To borrow from a song: Six days to closing, six days to closing / Just enough time to buy your Frisco ticket.
WHEN: July 26-August 11, 2024
WHERE: Frisco Discovery Center (black box), 8004 N. Dallas Pkwy, Frisco TX
WEB: theatrefrisco.com
[Creatives include director/choreographer Andi Allen…co-director Sinan Beskok…music director Kelly Poche Rodriguex, band leader Larry Miller…set and lighting designer Josh Hensley…sound designer Keyes Larsen….and many more.]
