Stars in the Park revives this oft-told romance at the Kelsey Theatre.
By: Stuart Duncan
Valentine’s Day presents are always a challenge; sometimes flowers or candy are just not enough. Well, this year there is a solution a production of She Loves Me at the Kelsey Theatre on the Mercer County Community College campus in West Windsor.
This little gem of a show is being staged by Stars in the Park, one of those troupes that started as part of the summer season at Washington Crossing State Park. It has some of the best singing in years, strong direction both on stage and in the orchestra pit and a sound system brought in especially so you can not only hear but understand the intricate lyrics.
She Loves Me began life in the 1930s as a Hungarian play written by Milton Laszlo. By 1940 it had become a Hollywood film, The Shop Around The Corner, starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan. The two had met in summer stock on Cape Cod with the University Players. Ms. Sullivan was dating Henry Fonda at the time and Mr. Stewart charmed his way into the group by playing his accordion during intermissions. (Note: This was remade as You’ve Got Mail (1998), starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.)
The 1940 film became a 1949 Hollywood musical, titled In the Good Old Summertime, starring Judy Garland, who could sing, and Van Johnson, who could not. By 1963, there was a rewrite for the stage (the present She Loves Me), with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. It got five Tony Award nominations. (Incidentally, a revival of the same show 30 years later, in 1993, received nine nominations, proving just how revivals have taken over New York.)
The plot has remained the same: Georg and Amalia quarrel by day as co-workers in a boutique up-scale parfumerie, but are secret lovers by mail, each unknown to the other. We also meet their fellow workers: the slick womanizer; his most recent conquest; the anguished store owner; the ambitious but loveable delivery boy; and a host of eager customers.
The current staging at Kelsey has it all: Director Diane Wargo has assembled a superb company. Maggie Mustico, who plays Amalia, is no stranger to musicals (most recently as Esther in Meet Me In St. Louis, and before that as Anna in The King and I). Back in ’63 audiences used to gasp as Barbara Cook hit Bs above high Cs. Ms. Mustico not only hits them but does so with ease and pure clarity. Newcomer Adam Nardini plays Georg stunningly, combining a terrific voice with poignant acting skill. He is a Princeton Theological Seminary student, hailing from Iowa, and is making his New Jersey debut.
But it is a strong cast right down the list: Raymond Pental as the "go-along to get-along" Sipos; Angela Marchetti as the street-wise Ilona; William Pessel as the suave womanizer, Kodaly; Victor Miller as the anguished store owner, Mr. Maraczek; and Luddy Iezzo as the delivery boy with a future, Arpad Laszlo. Stealing the only scene in which he appears with a brilliant cameo is Marty Berrien, as the maitre d’.
So, this is a very special Valentine’s present indeed.
She Loves Me continues at the Kelsey Theatre, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, through Feb. 15. Performances: Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets cost $14, $12 seniors, $10 students/children. For information, call (609) 584-9444. On the Web: www.kelseyatmccc.org