A Romantic Atmosphere

She Loves Me – Blank Theatre Company

At Mr. Maraczek’s perfume shop in Budapest, longtime clerk Georg Nowak and new hiree Amalia Balash are constantly butting heads. Whenever they aren’t finding fault with each other, they’re trying to one up each other selling skin creams and potions to the housewives of Budapest. Little do they know that they are each other’s secret pen pals, connected through a ‘lonely hearts club.’ If the story of business rivals unknowingly falling in love via correspondence rings a bell, it’s because the Hungarian play that this musical is based on also formed the basis for the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan comedy “You’ve Got Mail,” among a few other movies. It’s an old story, and one often told to be sure, but that’s part of its charm. Everyone in the audience and everyone on stage except the leading couple know exactly how this story ends from the moment the curtain goes up. The pleasure is watching the leads catch up with the rest of us.

Blank Theatre’s new production has charm oozing out of its ears. Rather than trip over themselves trying to modernize the show, first produced in 1963 and set in 1934, leaving it in its time and place gives it a cozy, rather than a dated feel. There are a few lines and moments that will grab a modern ear in an odd way, but overall, the story of two young people simultaneously too smart and too silly to see what’s in front of them works like it always has.

In addition to charm, the show also has talent coming out of its ears. The strongest member of a strong cast is undoubtedly Brandy Miller as Amalia. Her gorgeous soprano, too, feels like something from another time, and she wields her instrument with skill. Her vocal performance supported expert comic timing and the ability to heighten the farce by taking it completely seriously. Other standouts were Rachel Guth’s Ilona, the shop girl who keeps making poor choices when it comes to men, and Bryce Ancil as Arpad, the delivery boy with aspirations of becoming a clerk in the store. Guth is hilarious and extremely talented. And Ancil has pretty much one song to establish and resolve his character’s story, and by the end of it, I was more invested in Arpad than I’ve been in other shows’ protagonists after two hours.

If I had to critique something, I do think the first act drags a little in the middle. This mode of musical gives literally every character of a large cast a song to establish themselves, and it gets a little soft in the middle of Act I, but by Act II, the misunderstandings are in full swing, and the show moves breathlessly along, taking the audience with it. And I will say I think that the drag is in the script and not in how this show has chosen to realize it. It’s just how musicals were built back then.

That minor quibble aside, this is the archetype of the old school musical comedy. For any fan of musicals, this show will read as charmingly familiar, like curling up with your favorite book in your favorite chair under your favorite blanket. Brought to life by a frankly obnoxiously talented cast, the show has an earnest sweetness that I found irresistible. Rather than run from its age, it appears to have embraced it, and the result was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented March 29 – May 1 by Blank Theatre Company at The Reginald Vaugh Theatre at 1106 W. Thorndale, Chicago.

Tickets can be purchased here. The theatre will require proof of vaccination and masks must be worn throughout the performance.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.