Madison Opera Presents SHE LOVES ME Next Month

Madison Opera brightens up winter with performances of She Loves Me on Friday, February 18 at 8pm and Sunday, February 20 at 2:30pm in the Capitol Theater. In this romantic comedy from the golden age of American musicals, young couples exchange witty barbs, emotions are expressed in song, and happiness is just around the corner

Set in 1930s Hungary, She Loves Me tells of the denizens of a perfume shop. Two of the clerks, Amalia and Georg, hate each other, not knowing that they are secret pen pals on their way to falling in love. Two other clerks, Ilona and Kodaly, are having an affair, but Kodaly is not playing by the rules. As fall gives way to winter, will love prevail?

She Loves Me was the fourth musical by the song-writing team of Jerry Bock (music) and Sheldon Harnick (lyrics), who had already won the Pulitzer Prize for their 1959 musical Fiorello. One year after She Loves Me, their musical Fiddler on the Roof premiered to global acclaim.

With bookwriter Joe Masteroff, the pair adapted the popular 1940 movie The Shop Around the Corner, which itself was based on the 1937 play Parfumerie by Hungarian writer Miklós László. The play had also been adapted into the film musical In the Good Old Summertime (1949), and decades later would be adapted into the non-musical film You've Got Mail (1998).

When She Loves Me premiered in 1963, critics hailed its music and charm; The World-Telegram & Sun called it "a musical play with which everyone can fall in love." It has since become a favorite work of audiences everywhere, with wonderful music, intelligent humor, and genuine heart.

"She Loves Me is a delectable piece, and it's one of my favorites," says Kathryn Smith, Madison Opera's General Director. "The score has an almost Mozart-ean level of ensemble writing, with individual songs for every character, as well as varied duets and ensembles. It's the perfect piece to cheer up audiences in a Wisconsin winter.

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