SHE LOVES ME to Kick Off 'Broadway's Best' Lineup This Friday on PBS

As previously announced, the critically-acclaimed Roundabout Theatre Company production of She Loves Me comes to THIRTEEN's Great Performances, Friday, October 20 at 9 p.m. (check local listings) as the opening presentation of PBS's fall Broadway's best lineup.

She Loves Me joins Present Laughter (November 3), Indecent (November 19), and Holiday Inn(November 24, and also from Roundabout) as part of PBS's Broadway's best lineup, directed for television by Emmy Award-winner David Horn, executive producer of both GREAT PERFORMANCES and THIRTEEN's local Theater Close-Up series. All four titles are productions by the theater streaming service BroadwayHD in association with THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET.

She Loves Me was the first Broadway musical ever to stream live during a performance at Roundabout Theatre Company's Studio 54. In the musical, Tony Award winner Laura Benanti and Tony Award nominee Zachary Levi star as Amalia and Georg, two parfumerie clerks who aren't quite the best of friends. Constantly bumping heads while on the job, the sparring coworkers can't seem to find common ground. But little do they know, the anonymous romantic pen pals they have both been falling for happen to be each other. Will love continue to blossom once their identities are finally revealed?

For BroadwayHD this performance of She Loves Me was produced by Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley and captured by BroadwayHD in June 2016, in association with Ellen M. Krass Productions, Inc. and THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC FOR WNET. It was directed for television by David Horn.

Part of Roundabout's 50th Anniversary Season, She Loves Me also starred Byron Jennings(Maraczek), Gavin Creel (Kodaly), Tom McGowan (Sipos) and Jane Krakowski (Ilona) with Nicholas Barasch (Arpad) and Peter Bartlett (Head Waiter).

The production was directed by Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis, choreographed by Warren Carlyle with musical direction by Paul Gemignani. This classic musical comedy features a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock.

This marks the second presentation of She Loves Me on GREAT PERFORMANCES which aired a well-remembered British studio version starring Robin ("Poldark") Ellis and Gemma ("The Slipper and the Rose") Craven which delighted viewers.

The celebrated score features favorites such as "Vanilla Ice Cream," "A Romantic Atmosphere," "Dear Friend," and "She Loves Me." The musical is based on a play by Miklos Laszlo, whose well-known romantic story was the basis for the 1940 James Stewart film "The Shop Around the Corner," the 1949 Judy Garland and Van Johnson musical "In the Good Old Summertime," and the 1998 Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan film "You've Got Mail."

Roundabout's Associate Artistic Director Scott Ellis previously directed Roundabout's ten-time Tony nominated revival of "She Loves Me" in 1993, which marked the first Broadway musical in the company's history and launched the Musical Theatre Program at Roundabout.

The production started previews on February 19, 2016 and with the official opening on March 17, 2016. The creative team includes David Rockwell (sets), Jeff Mahshie (costumes), Don Holder (Lights), Jon Weston (Sound), Larry Hochman (Orchestrations), David Krane (Dance Arrangements & Incidental Music).

Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET, one of America's most prolific and respected public media providers. Throughout its more than 40 year history on public television, GREAT PERFORMANCES has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America's most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming.

For Great Performances, Mitch Owgang is producer; Bill O'Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.

Visit GREAT PERFORMANCES online at www.pbs.org/gperf for additional information about this and other programs.

WNET is America's flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NEWSHOUR Weekend, CHARLIE ROSE and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET's groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Theater Close-Up, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport.

Since launching in 2015, BroadwayHD has aimed to extend the reach of Broadway-caliber productions to theater fans all over the world. BroadwayHD is the only theater streaming service of its kind, offering Broadway to all through an unprecedented theater experience. In addition to exclusive live-streamed content, BroadwayHD offers subscribers unlimited on-demand access to a lineup of over 200 theater productions from the comfort and convenience of their own homes-or wherever streaming is possible. It's the Broadway you know and love, curated from the stage to your screen. BroadwayHD subscribers can stream BroadwayHD on BroadwayHD.com, Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone and Android mobile devices.

Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to producing the highest-quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure, and providing accessibility to all audiences. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the production of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate and engage all audiences.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals, and new works on its five stages. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and BLACK BOX Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design, is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre offers a state of the art, LEED-certified Broadway theatre in which to stage major large-scale musical revivals. Together these distinctive homes serve to enhance Roundabout's work on each of its stages. www.roundabouttheatre.org

Two-time Emmy Award-winning producer Ellen M Krass and EMK Productions have a 25-year history of packaging and producing for film and television. Krass' most-recent productions include "Gypsy" starring Imelda Staunton (2015) and the New York Philharmonic concert staging of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's "Company" starring Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks and Stephen Colbert, which was broadcast into cinemas around the world.

In 2010 Krass produced "Sondheim! The Birthday Concert," New York Philharmonic's rousing celebration of the life and work of one of Broadway's greatest legends. The evening was telecast as part of PBS' 'Great Performances' series, hosted by David Hyde Pierce. Her other productions include "Cyrano," "Candide," "Company with Raul Esparza," "Sweeney Todd in Concert," "The Gin Game with Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore" and "You Can't Take It With You with Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst."

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus