Citadel Theatre's 'She Loves Me' a timeless rom-com
It's been said by social psychologists that two of the basic human emotional needs are loving relationships and meaningful work, but most would likely agree that it's difficult to have both at the same time.
That may be one of the reasons the story of the 1963 musical "She Loves Me," which Lake Forest's Citadel Theatre will perform Nov. 15 to Dec. 17, has proved to be so popular over so many decades.
This romantic comedy of two co-workers who are continually quarreling at the Budapest perfume shop where they work, not knowing each other is the anonymous pen pal with whom they're falling in love, was originally a 1937 Hungarian play called "Parfumerie."
In 1963, it was the basis of this musical, with some 25 tuneful, lilting and often funny songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, who would later write the score for "Fiddler on the Roof." Before "She Loves Me," Hollywood had faithfully adapted the story as the 1940 film "The Shop Around the Corner," starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and as the 1949 Judy Garland and Van Johnson musical "In the Good Old Summertime."
The latter film moved the action from a Budapest parfumerie to a Chicago music store at the turn of the 20th century. In 1998, the story was updated for the film "You've Got Mail," starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
If the story were updated today, the lovers might be remote workers arguing in Zoom meetings while they flirt anonymously on a dating app, but regardless of the changes in retailing and communications of the past 90 years, the story's themes remain resonant.
The charm of this musical's old-world European setting doesn't lessen the stakes for the would-be lovers Amalia and Georg. Georg is the head salesclerk of the elegant Maraczek Parfumerie, who takes great pride in his work and his position. He feels threatened by Amalia's success in challenging the shop's established order with her new ideas.
Amalia is as ambitious as Georg and desperately needs to succeed at her new job, having lost her previous job when the store where she worked went out of business. Though Georg and Amalia share a deep pride in their work and a desire to make the shop successful, their different ways of doing things create fireworks.
"She Loves Me's" director Matthew Silar says gender differences are part of the reasons Georg and Amalia often butt heads.
"The salesclerks are mostly men, even though the customers are mainly women, and Amalia's insights into female mindsets give her an advantage," Silar said. "Georg, who has never worked with such a strong woman, is taken aback at her assertiveness."
"While Georg asks for permission to do things, Amalia just takes the initiative and does what she thinks is right," said Hannah Louise Fernandes, who is playing Amalia after her acclaimed performance as Cinderella in Paramount's "Into the Woods" earlier this year.
"She needs the job and she's not going to be pushed around."
Travis Ascione, who returns to Citadel, where he played the title role in "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" in spring 2022, said, "I don't believe Georg's reactions to Amalia are coming from sexism, but from the threat she brings to the way things have been done in this shop. The shop is his family - and for someone to come in and change things threatens him.
"But Georg and Amalia are more than dedicated workers. As the audience learns before Georg and Amalia do, the two share many of the same interests and values - qualities that aren't apparent when they're at the shop but are clear from the anonymous love letters they send to each other," Ascione said.
"It's her mind and her love of art and books that attracts him. There's so much they reveal in their letters - the most intimate form of communication - that they never show at work. We see how there's way more going on in people's brains than we let on in our daily activities."
Silar says it's the inversion of the usual rom-com formula that makes "She Loves Me" so fresh.
"In most romantic comedies, the lovers meet, are attracted, and gradually discover the less appealing qualities in each other that threaten the relationship. Here, Georg and Amalia's worst traits are already on display. Since we, as an audience, already know more about them than they know of each other, we're in on the joke and can root for them to get together," Silar said.
"Though a number of the characters occasionally behave badly, they're able to apologize and forgive each other, accepting that bad behavior is part of the messiness of being human. This generosity of spirit makes 'She Loves Me' sweet and uplifting without being excessively sentimental.
"Our production will be a bit sweeter than our world, with a set design reminiscent of a bowl of sherbet. The score by Bock and Harnick makes it effervescent, and we'll be delivering the music with a cast of exceptionally strong singers and a five-piece onstage band," Silar said.
"This will be a grand musical delivered in the intimacy of Citadel's theater and will be a great opportunity to enjoy this musical theater gem."
For performance times, ticketing, and more information, visit citadeltheatre.com. Citadel Theatre is in residence at the West Campus building of the Lake Forest School District, 300 S. Waukegan Road in Lake Forest.
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