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She Loves Me by San Dieguito Academy  Set in a quirky perfumery in 1930’s Budapest, this rarely
produced but cute and amusing musical centers on two of its salespeople who
both belong to a lonely-hearts club. Lonely Goerg has worked there for years,
while lonely Amalia Balash gets the job near the start of the show, getting on
Goerg’s bad side at exactly the same moment. But they can both take solace in
their true loves – although neither has actually met their true love
yet. They just know from their letters that their true love can’t be anything
like that awful salesperson they have to work with!
Okay, you may have heard this sort of story before. You’ve Got Mail comes to mind. But it’s a popular pattern because it works! Especially here in a story with several great characters and a charming musical score laden with humorous lyrics all cleverly arranged. And especially here at the San Dieguito Academy where an all-youth production team, from cast to crew to director, put together a truly impressive production in every aspect. Brett Alters stars as Goerg Nowack, a guy who’s very much in love with his pen pal, and very much in loathe with new employee Amalia Balash (Annie Langer). Brett’s natural knack for comedy comes through often, especially during the couple’s vicious verbal spars, and when overcome with anxiety before his first date (first-date jitters compounded by the fact that he has made up so many embellishments about himself in his letters!). Annie easily holds her own in the verbal wars, and has a beautiful voice that fortunately we get to hear often, and singing such unusual songs as Vanilla Ice Cream and Where’s My Shoe?. They are joined by a very deep and talented ensemble. Monet Payne is a riot as co-worker Ilona Ritter who has a thing for the wrong man (in this case, playboy Steven Kodaly played by Joe Glaser). Monet’s facial expressions as she struggles to play “hard to get” against Joe’s wooing are hilarious, as is her solo I Resolve in which she makes her New Year’s resolution to fall in love with better men, displaying her remarkable voice while resolving it. The boss, Mr. Maraczek (Alex Kloehn), delivers a diverting little song-and-dance as he reminisces about his youthful Days Gone By. On a sad note, Jesse Bradley was hospitalized shortly before the closing show, but Parker Davis courageously stepped into Jesse’s role of assistant Arpad Lazlow and, with only a day to get ready, turned in a terrific performance both acting-wise and in singing the complicated song Try Me in which he makes his case to the boss for his promotion to salesman.
Rob Hopper ~ Cast ~
Goerg Nowack: Brett Alters Amalia Balash: Annie Langer Ilona Ritter: Monet Payne Steven Kodaly: Joe Glaser Lladislav Sipos: Max Myers Arpad Lazlow: Jesse Bradley Mr. Maraczek: Alex Koehn 3 Soloists: Lauren Zaslow Michelle Risling Aimee Sunshine-Hill Mr. Keller: Jay Moses Waitress: Sarah Broyles Chorus: Amy Lewis Parker Davis Jay Moses Nicole Shook Amanda Downing Book: Joe Masteroff Music: Jerry Bock Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick Director: Hunter Kaczorowski and Annie Langer Stage Manager: Annie Schwartz ASM: Hannah Wacob |
Elsewhere, Amy Lewis turned in an amusing turn as a
large customer who is not interested in Mr. Maraczek’s musical cigarette cases,
but who becomes very intrigued by the same product when the quick-thinking
Amalia pushes it as a musical candy box. Sarah Broyles is a hoot as the
saucy waitress who stands watch over Amalia’s “first date” with her mysterious
pen pal. And the entire cast combines for one of the best scenes as Christmas
nears and their shopping becomes increasingly hectic in the crazy countdown to
the Twelve Days of Christmas.