Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Musical Review: She Loves Me


by Emma Willis
Do you enjoy musicals?  If you do, She Loves Me, produced by the Ocala Civic Theater, is a must-see.  The musical’s cast was full of local talent including some of our very own CF theater students. 

This musical is based on a play by Miklos Laszlo that was originally directed and produced on Broadway. This musical has seen the stage and film many times and under many different names over the years. From the Perfumerie in the 1930’s, to She Loves Me in the 1960’s, to the film success of You’ve Got Mail in 1998, and back to broadway in 2016 as She Loves Me, this story line is one that has appealed to many generations. 



Set in Budapest in the 1930s, Maraczek’s Parfumerie’s shop clerk
Georg Nowack, played by Will Winter, falls in love with a mystery woman only known as “Dear Friend.” Seeking a job Amalia Balash, played by Ashlyn Gibbs, beats Georg in a sales contest, landing herself a job at the perfumerie.  Georg and Amalia instantly despise each other.  With Christmas approaching, quarrels encompass the shop.  The pen pals plan a date to meet face to face finally.  When Georg goes to meet “Dear Friend,” he realizes, much to his dismay, that “Dear Friend,” the one he thought was his true love, was in actuality his arch-rival Amalia.  He decides to keep his identity secret, but when he sees her heartbroken the next day, he begins to feel sympathy for her.  Not only is Georg feeling new emotions, but Amalia is surprised by new emotions of her own.  Will Georg reveal himself to Amalia?  Can these enemies become “Dear Friends”?  

The cast and crew did a fantastic job putting together and performing this musical.  If you enjoy plays or musicals, you should definitely visit the Ocala Civic Theater.  While She Loves Me is no longer playing at Ocala Civic Theater, there are many more plays coming this season where much of Ocala’s amazing local talent can be seen in action. 
  
The current play, Eternity, is playing now through April 21.


Bonus:  CF students can see the final dress rehearsal on the Wednesday night before the play opens at no charge with a student ID!  [Note from Mrs. Bufka --  Attending these definitely counts for extra credit.) 

Here is a link to the Ocala Civic Theater site: Ocala Civic Theater
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5 comments:

  1. Sam LaFlamApril 13, 2019 at 7:42 PM

    I absolutely love theater and arts. I am so excited to take my children and check out some of the upcoming events. Thank you so much! I really enjoyed reading this! It sounded like it was a very interesting show.

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  2. Katherine WilsonApril 16, 2019 at 7:36 PM

    Great post! This was fun to read because i love the movie "The Shop Around The Corner," with Jimmy Stewart in the 1940's, which is the same story line. This story is very classic and i think it would be neat to watch as a play. -Katherine Wilson

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  3. UnknownApril 28, 2019 at 3:53 PM

    This play sounds fantastic! My friend performed this play with her theatre group as Amalia Balash. Sadly, i was not able to attend her play, but i would definately want to see it in the future. Do you think the Ocala Civic Theatre will perfor it again n the future?
    -Karina Ortega

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  4. RosedaliMay 1, 2019 at 1:08 PM

    Musical she loves me
    This play sounds truly interesting. I love art and admire theater much. To see the talent of each professional up there. But, I haven’t had the opportunity to go to many musicals definitely I would love to go to this one. The collaboration between the actors from the outside is a great opportunity for our CF classmates to learn and get tips from others.
    -Rose

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  5. Troy ChanceyMay 1, 2019 at 8:23 PM

    I've never been a big fan of musicals but my wife has recently put me on to some good ones. I think seeing them performed by local talent would be amazing. This sounds like it would be a good one to start with. I loved the movie You've Got Mail.

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