‘She Loves Me’ A Holiday Escape At Cape Rep

"The perfect holiday escape" is how Director Maura Hanlon describes the musical "She Loves Me," opening Nov. 6 at the Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster. 

 "She Loves Me" is a tale of mistaken identity, unexpected romance, and finding love where you least expect it. Set in a 1930s perfumery, "She Loves Me" follows feuding shop clerks Amalia and Georg, who unknowingly become each other's anonymous penpals through a lonely hearts ad.

 Hanlon thinks the story is particularly appropriate today. It is set in Eastern Europe in the mid-1930s, a time when there was "a brief bubble of hope between the Great Depression and World War II," Hanlon said, and there are hints the world is going to go through massive change. But in this moment, romance, love and humor are still very much possible, and you can still spoil yourself with the little luxuries in life. 

"And to me," Hanlon added, "that makes the show feel really timely."

Based on the 1937 play “Parfumerie” by Hungarian playwright and screenwriter Miklós László, it was adapted for the screen in the now classic 1940 film “The Shop Around the Corner,” starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. In 1963 it was again adapted, this time into a musical by Joe Masteroff, with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, creators of “Fiddler on the Roof” and directed by Hal Prince.

 Hanlon calls the music "remarkable," adding that "the vocal ranges for the performers are really challenging, and Sheldon Harnick's lyrics are so, so clever."

 Longtime Cape Rep company members Chelsey Jo Brown and Anthony Teixeira play the combative shop clerks Amalia and Georg. Trish LaRose returns to the Cape Rep stage as Ilona Ritter, looking for a man and falling for a Lothario, played by Jakov Schwartzberg making his Cape Rep debut as Steven Kodaly. Ari Lew, Brian Farrell, Holly Hansen, Izzy Scampoli and Cam Torres are joined by Cape Rep newcomers Lynne Ruberti Johnson and Broedy Geary to complete the roster of performers. 

 Hanlon, who is also associate artistic director of Cape Rep, is joined by musical director Scott Storr, also on piano, with band members Susan Goldberg on bass, Chris Santos on drums and Jonathan Ford on violin. Credit for creation of the "beautiful little world" of the production goes to Cape Rep resident scenic designer Ryan McGettigan and resident costume designer Robin McLaughlin, joined by lighting designer Christopher Ostrom. 

 Janine Perry heads up prop design, which in this case is particularly challenging, Hanlon said. 

"The show is enormous and I think this is perhaps the biggest prop show I've ever seen,” she said. “We're in a parfumerie and every single thing you can imagine is mentioned in the script, so there is a lot of stuff and so many moving parts!"

 "She Loves Me" received several award-winning revivals in the 1990s, gradually becoming a cult classic. The 2016 revival, which won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical, became the first Broadway show ever to be live-streamed.

 "This is a big, lush Broadway musical," Hanlon said, "and ours is filled with such talent. It's the perfect escape from the world." After being immersed in rehearsals, Hanlon finds she is waking up with a different song for the show "playing on a loop in my head." Hanlon promises a really entertaining night of theater for everyone. "It's guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit," she said.