It may be a little early for Valentine’s Day but Long Wharf Theatre has recreated a sweet, old fashioned slice of romance that is sure to gladden your heart and please your heart strings. Unrest may be evident in 1937 Austria as the historic horror of World War II looms on the horizon, but in one elegant perfumery in Budapest there is an abundance of unrest among the employees. Written originally by a Hungarian playwright, “She Loves Me” is a delightfully tender musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick that has enjoyed many iterations over the years. It has resurfaced as a 1940 film "The Shop Around the Corner,” a 1949 musical version “In the Good Old Summertime” and then the more modern take, with emails, the 1998 Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie “You’ve Got Mail.”
Now Long Wharf Theatre, at its community location at The Lab at ConnCORP in Hamden in honor of its 60th anniversary, has masterfully and magically, thanks to Artistic Director and production director Jacob G. Padron, produced one of the originals for a triumphant revisit that is guaranteed to please, now extended until Sunday, December 30. “She Loves Me” takes place in a perfume shop, where dedicated clerks provide creams and lotions, and all manner of cosmetics to the local establishment, with shoppers like Jacob Heimer, Kara Mikula, Aurelia Williams and Sumi Yu. Everyone at Maraczek’s gets along beautifully, like scented powder on silken skin, except for Julius Thomas III’s Mr. Nowack and Alicia Kaori’s Miss Balash who clash instantaneously upon first encountering each other at work.
Miss Amalia Balash has just proven her worth to the shop owner, Raphael Nash Thompson, to hire her after convincing a customer to purchase a cigarette case that it’s really a musical candy box, one that sings “no more candy” each time it is opened. It earns her a job on the spot and that is when her conflicts with Mr. Nowack begin. What neither of them realize it that they have been each other’s secret pen pals in a lonely-hearts club and have been writing to each other as “Dear Friends” for months.
The plot skips along as Mariand Torres’s Miss Ritter carries on an affair with the fast talking clerk, Graham Stevens’s Mr. Kodaly, the aging Danny Bolero’s Mr.Sipos fears for the security of his job, the young delivery boy Felix Torrez-Ponce’s Arpad Laszlo wants desperately to advance his position to clerk and Mr. Maraczek receives an unsigned letter that his wife is carrying on with one of his employees. Musical scenes like “Tonight at Eight,” “Will He Like Me?," “Try Me,” “Where’s My Shoe,” “Vanilla Ice Cream,” ”Twelve Days of Christmas” and “She Loves Me” are wonderfully rendered, with the help of a small band on stage.
For tickets ($49 and up), call the Long Wharf box office at 203-693-1486 or online at longwharf.org/events/she-loves-me. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m., Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. From Thursday, December 26 to Monday, December 30 tickets will be the gift of $1.
Delight in this musical love story that fills your heart with joy, as this wonderful cast takes you on a romantic adventure that turns out so beautifully pleasing.The only thing that could have improved it would be if the audience received a small cup of vanilla ice cream and wooden spoon, from chidhood memories, at the start of the second act to share the treat with Amalia.
No comments:
Post a Comment