Imagine working long, stressful days alongside the most obnoxious coworker, finding solace only in your letters from an anonymous but oh-so-romantic pen pal. Then imagine discovering that the two are the same person. That’s the simple but sweet story behind She Loves Me, the classic 1963 musical currently lighting up the stage at the Little Theatre of Alexandria.
If it sounds a familiar tale, that’s because She Loves Me is neither its first nor last adaptation. Miklós László’s 1937 play, Parfumerie, spawned three well-known film adaptations: The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime, and yes, the 1998 rom-com classic You’ve Got Mail.
The musical, with a libretto by Joe Masteroff and music and lyrics by Fiddler on the Roof’s Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, keeps the original setting of 1930s Budapest, more specifically a stylish cosmetics shop called Maraczek’s Parfumerie. There, experienced clerk Georg Nowack and new saleswoman Amalia Balash get off on the wrong foot, and the tense workplace dynamic only gets worse when store owner Mr. Maraczek suddenly begins criticizing everything Georg does. As if that weren’t enough to be stressed about, Georg has a big date coming up: he’s finally going to meet the pen pal he found through a Lonely Hearts ad. What could go wrong?
As the seasons change from summer to autumn to winter, an adorable love story unfolds. Add in some more flings and heartbreaks among the rest of the parfumerie’s clerks, and it all wraps up with a bow like one of the neat packages on Maraczek’s displays.
LTA’s production of this charming musical is a perfectly polished gem. The skill and attention to detail in every aspect of the show exceed even the highest hopes for a community theater production. Even the famously persnickety Mr. Maraczek could not find any fault here.
Worth special mention is Shelby Young’s virtuosic turn as Amalia. Her exceptional vocal control, clarity, and range would not be out of place on a Broadway stage. Young’s stellar rendition of “Vanilla Ice Cream” is reason enough to buy a ticket, but she isn’t just a pretty voice: her poise and sprightly energy shine in every scene. Anthony Galace, so delightful as a gangster in LTA’s The Drowsy Chaperone, proves an equally entertaining leading man as Georg, especially in the musical anxiety attack that is the song “Tonight at Eight.”
One of the show’s most impressive numbers is “Ilona,” performed by the wolfish Steven Kodaly (Brandon Schenk) and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Ilona (Maura Lacy). Both perform some seriously sensuous ballroom moves (choreographed by Mitchell Aiello) with electrifying chemistry. Schenk’s rich vocals almost make you forget what a cad his character is. While Lacy is very funny as Ilona, she is far from just a comic relief character — each time Kodaly lets her down, her heartbreak is palpable.
Michael McGovern wins the “most supportive supporting character award” as the longest-serving and longest-suffering clerk, Ladislav Sipos. McGovern plays Sipos as the trusty work friend you wish you had, and he earns some of the biggest laughs of the evening as he tries to support Georg on his big date, up to and including pressing his face up against the restaurant’s window. His voice blends beautifully with Schenk’s and Galace’s in the recurring “Thank You, Madam” motif sung by the clerks. Rounding out the staff are big boss Mr. Maraczek himself (Philip Krzywicki, perfectly cast) and delivery boy Arpad (an impish Mylo Cluff).
The entire cast moves with precision, not a hint of opening night jitters. An ensemble of customers and rowdy restaurant guests liven up the stage, most notably in the riotous number “Twelve Days to Christmas,” in which customers get more and more frantic in the leadup to the big day. (Two crazed shoppers even walk out with the store’s telephone and Christmas tree!) Another standout from the cast is Stephen Yednock as a Head Waiter who is very intense about maintaining a romantic atmosphere. He makes his point with an extended Pavarotti-esque high note, to cheers from the audience.
Elegant period costumes by Juliana Cofrancesco and Farrell Hartigan elevate the uniformly strong performances even further. In pieces like this, women often get to wear period-inspired costumes while men just throw on any suits that may be lying around. The neat, tailored look of the men’s suits here, including details like scarves and hats, really transports audiences to a different time and place and gives Maraczek’s that extra touch of class.
The jewel-box set, beautifully designed by Julie Fischer, does equally heavy lifting here. With two stories full of shelves lined with colorful bottles of perfume and movable kiosks full of cosmetic displays, it truly does look like a working store. A clear window is a great touch. Even more impressively, the actors smoothly fold and unfold the set to create a city street, the shop interior, Amalia’s house, and a restaurant. Each set transition happens in the blink of an eye.
This musical is a set decorator’s dream, and Kashla Womack more than rises to the occasion. When the halls of the parfumerie are decked with Christmas decorations and festively wrapped packages, it’s hard to imagine a prettier set. Props designers Brooke Angel Markley and Jennifer Rubio get to exercise their creativity on a variety of prop cosmetics, including a smartly-rigged tube of face cream that explodes onto Georg’s suit. On the subject of cosmetics, hair and makeup designer Diana Almeida keeps Maraczek’s staff looking the picture of 1930s fashion. A separate messy wig for Amalia’s “sick day” is yet another great example of detail-oriented vision.
One of the most distinguished features of LTA’s She Loves Me is its seamless soundscape, as if the 12-piece orchestra, sound designers, vocalists, and conductor are all operating as one. While it is hard to tell where the work of music director Matthew Brown ends and that of sound designer Alan Wray begins, the balance is impeccable throughout. When the cast’s voices join together, it’s auditory bliss.
With a slow-moving and uncomplicated plot at the center and a gorgeous score that nonetheless sometimes brings the story to a halt, She Loves Me is not exactly the most exciting musical. Its humor tends more toward “sensible chuckles” than uproarious laughter. Still, She Loves Me is as lovely in its simplicity as the vanilla ice cream that Georg gallantly brings Amalia. This is especially true when, as with LTA’s productions, it’s locally made vanilla ice cream of the highest quality.
Director Mitchell Aiello and the entire cast and crew deserve a tip of the hat for the remarkable cohesion of all elements of this production as well as the near-flawless presentation. Even the crankiest cynic couldn’t help but fall in love with She Loves Me.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.
She Loves Me plays through November 7, 2026, at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm. To purchase tickets ($36, reserved seating), go online, call the Box Office (703-683-0496), or email boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com.
The playbill and full credits for She Loves Me are available here.
