REVIEW: "She Loves Me": You will fall in love too!

A man, a woman in Budapest, circa 1930’s.  

Blind date style letters sharing their deepest secrets by night. 

Neither one knew they were co-workers during their daily pettifogs. 

Looking for love, searching for answers. 

Something we all hope to achieve at least once in a lifetime – to fall in love, to stay in love.

An ensemble of fine actors and actresses stole the show in Shoreline Community College's  performance of the Broadway show, "She Loves Me."

Shane Hoffman playing Arpad the delivery boy arrived first on the set riding an old fashioned bike.  Hoffman’s performance was consistent throughout. 

This romantic comedy unraveled with Brent Byhre as Georg and Berit Johansen as Amalia.  Byhre and Johansen perform this love match with superb vocal performances and unadulterated drama that bore some resemblence to the story line of "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail."

Shaun McGrath as Mr. Maraczek, owner of the store, reminded me of an employer that I hated and loved.  I couldn’t stand his money grubbing ways and tough on-the-job exterior but the human that I am held my heart out to him towards the end. 

The sinful philandering of Steven Kodaly played by Stephen Jones highlighted Kodaly’s “nice guy but bad boy” image.  Kodaly charmed customers as a sales clerk from 8 to 5 and carried on insatiable quests for female flesh after dusk. 

Trinya Murray as Ilona Ritter delivered the goods in her portrayal as a vulnerable, loved starved victim.  When Ilona felt pain, so did I.  The mark of good writing and acting is when the audience shares the same emotions with those on stage.

Honorable mentions are Jessica Atkinson who played “Tango Dancer” and Kristen Geary who portrayed one of several customers in Maraczek's Parfumerie, a store specializing in crèmes, lotions and fragrances.

Atkinson performed in the scene called Tango Tragique, her dance exemplified the classic, tango attitude of “it’s all about the man” and was the ideal preface of more fancy footwork by fellow cast members who created a romantic background.  Cast member Kristen Geary stood out in the crowd also.

Geary had the assistance of her service dog, a Black Lab named Ginny.  This was first time Geary acted on stage and the first time I ever saw a live, service animal work so brilliantly with the rest of the cast.  No barking, no “biological mal-functions.”

The story flowed well under the direction of  Susan Dolacky, Dr. Charles Enlow and Teresa Thuman.  A fantastic orchestra was led by Dr. Adam Burdick.  The set was a wonderful, multiple purpose venue that helped to depict a store front, café, hospital, Amalia’s home, library and more.  Costumes were appropriate for the time period.  Carl Brondson was in charge of the set and costume design.  The lights and sounds set the right mood for each scene thanks to Dave Dolacky.  For all mentioned and the countless people who made this play a success, please, take a bow!

Want to see about falling in love with SHE LOVES ME? Tonight at 7:30pm is your big chance as the play performs its last curtain call this season at Shoreline Community College. $15, $10 and $8 and on sale at Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006 or at www.brownpapertickets.com or at the cashiers suite of The Campus Theatre.  

For more information, please visit the Music Department web site at 
http://www.shoreline.edu/music/events.asp.