She Loves Me follows Georg and Amalia, two parfumerie clerks who aren't quite the best of friends. Constantly bumping heads while on the job, the sparring coworkers can't seem to find common ground. But little do they know, the anonymous romantic pen pals they have both been falling for happen to be each other! Will love continue to blossom once their identities are finally revealed?
In celebration of Roundabout Theatre Company's 50th anniversary, She Loves Me returns to Broadway for the first time since it triumphantly launched Roundabout's musical theatre initiative over 20 years ago. This heartwarming musical comedy features a book by Tony Award winner Joe Masteroff (Cabaret), music by Tony Award winner Jerry Bock (Fiddler on the Roof) and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner Sheldon Harnick (Fiorello!). Six-time Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis (Roundabout's Harvey, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) directs.
Sometimes vanilla ice cream can taste like sweet deliverance. Such is the discovery made by one Amalia Balash in the 1963 musical 'She Loves Me' -- which has been rapturously revived in a new production by the Roundabout Theater Company -- when she receives a gift of this frozen confection from an unlikely suitor. As Amalia trills her delight in a song that flies toward heaven on ascending high notes, audiences for Scott Ellis's production...are likely to know exactly how she feels. That's partly because 'Vanilla Ice Cream'...is performed by Laura Benanti, an actress whose joyful soprano is a conduit for instant empathy...when embodied by a cast as expertly attuned as this one, which also includes a winning Zachary Levi and a scrumptious Jane Krakowski, it has a lingering and deeply satisfying sweetness usually lacking in brassier shows...The cheerful seamlessness of 'She Loves Me' defies deconstruction.
The tremendous revival of 'She Loves Me'...left visions of sugarplums dancing in my head and dreams of vanilla ice cream. The candy fantasies, let's chalk up to Roundabout's cartoonish art nouveau sets, which recreate the streets of Budapest in cheery rainbow hues. The ice cream? That was all Laura Benanti, who, as a lonely salesgirl, cries despairingly into her dessert while singing one of the more delicious confections from the classic rom-com...Benanti...brings an operatic quality to the role, wrenching emotion from songs such as 'Dear Friend.' As with her co-stars, there's a winking and self-conscious quality to her performance. Levi, as the shop's senior employee, has stepped up his game since his nice debut a few seasons back in 'First Date.' His Georg is a solid fellow who wants to make everyone happy...Levi seems to be having fun, and his performance is natural and comfortable.
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