BWW Reviews: SHE LOVES ME at Cumberland County Playhouse

Forget the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or schlepping to the mall to shop 'til you drop on Black Friday, the best - and definitely the most joyous - way to welcome the holiday season is a trip to Crossville for Cumberland County Playhouse's gloriously rapturous production of She Loves Me, the lovely and lyrical musical from Joe Masteroff, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

Based on Hungarian playwright Miklos Lazlo's Parfumerie (which has also served as the inspiration for the movies The Shop Around The Corner, In the Good Ole Summertime and You've Got Mail), She Loves Me is, for most musical theater aficionados, one of those infrequently-produced gems exemplified by much-played cast albums and countless hours of discussion. Thus, when you happen upon a production of it, it's as if you've stumbled upon hidden treasure - and you simply cannot keep it secret. You want to tell everyone you know, stop strangers on the street, sing it to the world: She Loves Me is onstage! Certainly, that's the case with this artfully realized production that so expressively captures the work's romantic themes, transporting you to a world only previously imagined.

Given a sumptuous mounting in The Playhouse's Adventure Theater, She Loves Me is brought to life through Ron Murphy's focused music direction, Leila Nelson's winning choreography and Michele Colvin's expert direction and the casting of some of the company's best-loved and most-talented actors. If there's a better way to celebrate the season than this splendidly written and sublimely performed musical, I can't imagine what it would be. It's like finding the most beautifully wrapped package (thanks to set designer John Partyka, costume designer Rebel Mickelson and lighting designer Emily Becher-McKeever) under the tree contains the most perfect gift possible.

Set in a Budapest parfumerie in the mid-1930s (although a press release indicates the setting is Paris for this revival, which is probably why you see the Eiffel Tower in the background. But that begs the question, "Why?" Frankly, it's the production's only misstep, seeing as how nothing else has been changed to claim Paris as the play's setting), the play's sprightly staged and quickly paced action focuses on the amusing interactions of the people who work (and shop) at Maraczek's Parfumerie.

Among them are shop manager Georg Nowack (Daniel Black) and newly arrived clerk Amalia Balish (Nicole Begue) whose obvious disdain for each other clearly masks deeper and definitely more affectionate feelings. Both Georg and Amalia, unbeknownst to each other, are smitten with people they've met through newspaper lonely hearts columns, and while it's clear to the audience that Georg and Amalia are indeed each other's "dear friend," the ensuing scenes further develop their relationship, taking a convoluted route that will hopefully end in a romantic denouement.

At times, the plot is superficially silly (as musical comedies so often are), but there is an undercurrent of such genuine hopefulness than you can't help but be caught up by the story's romance. And Colvin's actors are so self-assured, so confident, so fully committed to their roles, that you can't help but suspend any disbelief to find yourself absolutely charmed by them and so completely enraptured by Masteroff's book and Bock and Harnick's musical score. Oh, that score...it's so beautifully performed by Murphy's orchestra and so exquisitely sung by Colvin's 14-member cast that you may find yourself forgetting that you're watching a play, instead imagining yourself in 1930s-era Europe. From the very first song, "Good Morning, Good Day" - which so evocatively sets the tone for the play and introduces all the various denizens of Maraczek's Parfumerie - to "Twelve Days to Christmas" - which epitomizes the holiday shopping rush to perfection - the score manages to capture the period feel of the play without ever sounding dated or contrived.

Black is at his most charming as Georg, exuding charisma with every movement and throughout his carefully measured reading of the role. His performance of "She Loves Me" is clearly one of the show's most memorable and engaging moments. Black's palpable chemistry with the beautiful Begue as Amalia is sweetly compelling - and just a joy to behold.. She is nothing short of stunning, of course, with a glorious voice that perfectly matches her physical loveliness as Amalia; her winsome performance is by turns brimming with effervescence and introspection, eloquently expressed in all her musical numbers, but most especially in "Will He Like Me?" and the delightful "Vanilla Ice Cream."

Black and Begue are given strong support by the enormously talented ensemble under Colvin's direction. Weslie Webster, with her superb timing and understated delivery, is wonderfully droll as the slightly tarty Ilona Ritter, particularly in her songs "I Resolve" and "A Trip to the Library." Britt Hancock is terrific as the caddish and romantically cavalier Steven Kodaly (whose offstage affair with the shop owner's wife precipitates much of the play's more dramatic moments); Hancock's portrayal is ideally modulated and his performance of "Grand Knowing You" - my personal favorite among the score's offerings - is delivered with an artful blend of charm and smarminess.

Jason Ross, who excels in his "Perspective," is well-cast as Ladislav Sipos, the shop clerk who knows his limitations and accepts them with some amount of grace. Ross effectively inhabits every character he plays and his Sipos is no different: Where Jason begins and Ladislav takes off is hard to discern. As Arpad Lazlo, the shop's delivery boy who yearns for the opportunity to prove his real worth, Elliott Cunningham is delightful, possessing a certain youthful glee that's on-target for the naïve character, all of which is effectively expressed in his performance of Act Two's "Try Me." John Fionte is impressive as shop owner Maraczek, acting and singing with conviction and perfectly capturing the tone of the European gentleman in his performance.

Austin Price very nearly steals the show with his well-timed, yet somehow flamboyant, performance as the maitre d' of Budapest's Cafe Imperiale, creating "A Romantic Atmosphere" (which features the comic interaction with Chaz Sanders as the cafe's clumsy busboy). Both director Colvin and choreographer Nelson make onstage appearances as part of the ensemble, along with Quinn Cason, Michael Ruff and Lauren Marshall (who displays her talents as a gypsy violinist, among other characters).

Since 1965, Cumberland County Playhouse has been producing exceptional theater in Crossville, but the shows I've seen there this season have been amazing, providing me with the joyful realization that there is no art form more transformative than musical theater. You really should give yourself a present and make the trip to see She Loves Me.

- She Loves Me. Book by Joe Masteroff. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Directed by Michele Colvin. Choreography by Leila Nelson. Music direction by Ron Murphy. Presented by Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville. Through December 18. For details, visit the company website at www.ccplayhouse.com or call (931) 484-5000 for reservations.

Daniel Black is Georg Nowack and Nicole Begue is Amalia Balish in Cumberland County Playhouse's production of She Loves Me.

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