[NEohioPAL] Review of "She Loves Me" at the Beck Center for the Arts

[Bob Abelman]

'She Loves Me' at Beck Center is an old fashioned charmer

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 9/27/13

 

 

If you've ever seen the 1999 film "You've Got Mail," starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, then you've essentially seen the romantic comedy "She Loves Me," currently playing at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.

 

In fact, if you've seen "You've Got Mail," then you've essentially seen the 1949 film "In The Good Old Summertime" and the 1940 film "The Shop Around the Corner."  They are all based on Miklos Laszlo's 1936 play "Parfumerie."

 

At the epicenter of this play is Georg, a mild-mannered middle-manager, and Amalia, a high-strung sales girl, who are feuding employees in a perfumery in Budapest.  They loath each other and take refuge in anonymous, romantic pen pal exchanges until they finally realize that they have been writing to each other.   Before falling into each other's arms, the two engage in increasingly comedic antagonism, which makes their inevitable connection all the sweeter.

 

"She Loves Me," which was written in the 1960s but still takes place in the 1930s, is the musical version of this familiar tale.  It is accentuated with smart and lively banter by playwright Joe Masteroff ("Cabaret") and a score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick ("Fiddler on the Roof") that provides a constant supply of cleverly worded, if not melodically memorable, songs.

 

As with "You've Got Mail,"  "She Loves Me" is a good, old-fashioned romantic romp that makes you feel so much better about life after watching it than when you first entered the theater.  It oozes charm, is seasoned with singularly likable characters, and is so formulaically familiar and comfortable that watching it is like slipping into soft flannel pajamas on a cold night and settling in for the evening. 

 

One imagines director Scott Spence donning pj.s as well, for everything about the staging of this musical is amiable, enchanting and built for comfort.  

 

Trad A Burns' candy-coated, lattice-covered set design sets the tone from the get-go.  Alison Garrigan's gorgeous period costuming helps transport the audience to a different time and delightful place.  Richard B. Ingraham fills the theater with the rich and wonderful sound generated by Larry Goodpaster's superb, backstage orchestra.

 

Void of garish production numbers, Martin Cespedes' simple but stylish choreography perfectly complements the music and lyrics in the show's many songs.  Between Cespedes' eye for delicate, fluid movement and Spence's attention to detail in each and every scene, there is not a moment in this production that is not pleasurable (save for the occasionally late music cue and delayed set change during opening weekend). 

 

Best of all, Spence populates this play with performers who understand romantic comedy and possess the acting and singing skills to carry it off.

 

Jamie Koeth was made for this musical.  As Georg, he is immediately lovable, always interesting, and capable of holding his own in a heated exchange with his female counterpart without losing his immense charm and alluring vulnerability.  

 

This is no easy task, for Rebecca Pitcher as Amalia is a force to be reckoned with vocally and in terms of sheer spunk.  Although she does not secrete the sexual tension that would help make her eventual profession of love for Georg less abrupt, every song she sings is a treasure and every moment on stage is a pleasure. 

 

These two are surrounded by a stellar cast of supporting players, including the wonderful Amiee Collier as the romantically insecure saleswoman Ilona (her duet with Pitcher in the lovely "I Don't Know His Name" is one of the show's many highlights); Brian Altman as the smarmy salesman Steven; Matthew Wright as the hard-on-the-outside but soft-in-the middle perfumery  owner Maraczek; Jonathan Kronenberger as the cowardly co-worker Ladislav; and Brett Harmon Castro as Arpad, the young delivery boy with grand aspirations. 

 

They are delightful, as are the highly disciplined ensemble members who create small but fully developed and varied characters that come and go throughout the production.  

 

Beck's "She Loves Me" is pure enjoyment from start to finish; a feel-good musical that works its magic in 2013 as well as Laszlo's play did in the 1930s.   If you go alone, and go you should, wear a rose in your lapel and don't be surprised if you leave in the company of a like-minded romantic.

 

 "She Loves Me" continues through October 20 at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.  Tickets, which range from $10 to $29, can be purchased by calling 216-521-2540 or visiting www.beckcenter.org.
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