Review: SHE LOVES ME at The Royal Theatre

I had no idea that when I went to see SHE LOVES ME at The Royal Theatre, 111 S Market St, in Benton, which played from February 15-25, that it was a musical version (sort of) of You’ve Got Mail. Ok, well, the musical came first, and the characters and setting were different, but the storyline was pretty much the same. Granted, there have been several different adapted versions from the first original 1937 play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklós László. However, when you have a good story, it’s always delightful to see it in revamped versions, especially when you set it to music. 

With Book by Joe Masteroff, Music by Jerry Bock, and Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, SHE LOVES ME follows two pen pals Georg Nowack (Matthew Burns) and Amalia Balash (Gabrielle Neafsey) who keep their identity from each other yet fall in love through these correspondences. Little do they know that they are coworkers at the Perfume store, where they end up fighting with each other a lot. Just like in the movie, they decide to meet, he finds out it is her by looking through the window, has the confrontation in the restaurant with the flower in the book, and she thinks she is jilted. Later she is sick at home, he comes to check on her, and then they start catching feelings for each other. By the end, the pen pals decide to meet, and surprise, it is Georg all along.  

Within this musical there are subplots with the shop workers that add to the story. The beautiful Ilona Ritter (Katie Choate) is secretly seeing Steven Kodaly (Greg Campbell), who is also having an affair with the owner’s, Mr. Maraczek (Byron Taylor), wife. Ladislav Sipos (Ben Wright) is a middle-aged family man who desperately wants to keep his job, and Arpad Laszlo (Braden Lisowe) is a stocker who wants to be a salesman. Ilona eventually decides to drop Steven and go to the library, where she meets an optometrist. After a failed attempt at suicide (why suicide?), Mr. Maraczek has Steven fired. Sipos tries to keep the peace, and Arpad proves he can make sales.  

Directed by David Weatherly with Music Director Candice Aipperspach, SHE LOVES ME was a charming romance with a lot of fun musical numbers. The first two songs “Good Morning, Good Day,” and “Sounds While Selling,” were intricate busy numbers that were fun to watch. Also, I feel from now on, I will feel slightly disappointed when I leave stores and people don’t sing to me “Thank You, Madam”.....those of you who have seen this know I’m right. Then there is also the restaurant scene “A Romantic Atmosphere” is led by one of my favorites, DC Miles. That number kept my heart giggling. 

As a Matthew Burns fan, I was thrilled to see him in a lead role. Burns and Neafsey have playful energy that makes you smile during their interactions. I especially liked their duet “Where’s My Shoe?” Also, at the end when Burns has the letter from their Dear Friend exchanges, it made my heart happy. 

I also enjoyed the vivacity that Choate emitted, not only when around Campbell’s character, but also when she was singing about falling in love with her optometrist who reads to her. She has a presence that is hard to ignore when she is on stage.  

Broadway World understands it takes an army to put on fun productions like SHE LOVES ME.  

Production/Creative Team: Director-David Weatherly; Music Director-Candice Aipperspach; Choreographers-Kenzie Taylor & Kaylei Taylor; Producers-Susie Goldman & Carissa A. Lumpkins; Stage Manager-Kenzie Taylor; Stage Crew-Allison Campbell; Set Design-David Weatherly & Tony Clay; Set Build-Tony Clay & Keith Taylor; Artistic Design-Shelli Goldthorpe & Angie Neufer; Set Painting-Shelli Goldthorpe, Angie Neufer, Susie Goldman, Carissa Lumpkins, Katrina Taylor, Frankie Goldman; Props-Shelli Goldthorpe, Susie Goldman, David Weatherly, Katrina Taylor, Amy Palmer, Kenzie Taylor; Costumes-Susie Goldman, Shelli Goldthorpe, Amy Palmer, Carissa A. Lumpkins; Light Design-Matthew Burns; Light Technician-Charles Wright; Sound Technician-Darren Tillery, Michelle Anderson, Michelle Alverio. 

Up next at The Royal, the Young Players take the stage with Mary Poppins Jr, and then in April, is BONNIE & CLYDE, directed by the amazing Dakota Mansfield. I can’t wait! For more information, visit their website at the button below.

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