She Loves Me

When it comes to the term "chestnut," few musicals fit this description as well as the Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick musical, "She Loves Me." Originally based on the Miklos Laszlo play, "Parfumerie," and first adapted and premiered in 1963, the plot is simple and followable, the score is endearing and hummable, and the show provides a delightful escape from our everyday challenges.

In 1993, Scott Ellis directed a well-received production of "She Loves Me," and Ellis once again takes control of this new, Tony-nominated revival, currently serenading audiences at Studio 54. With a strong cast of Broadway veterans, choreography by Warren Carlyle, and music direction by Paul Gemignani, the 2016 cast recording is now available on Ghostlight Records.

Featuring Zachary Levi ("Chuck," "First Date") as Georg, an employee in a parfumerie owned by Zoltan Maraczek (Byron Jennings), "She Loves Me" spins a pleasant yarn of mistaken identity and romances that has subsequent inspired many a film, including the 1998 Meg Ryan / Tom Hanks comedy, "You've Got Mail." Georg's status quo is disrupted with the arrival of Amalia Balash (Tony-winner Laura Benanti), who plows her way into a position at the store. The competitive relationship between the two employees is set against an unknown consequence: that the two are actually pen pals who are falling in love with one another without having met.

Add a secondary plot between two other employees in the store: the handsome letch (Gavin Creel) and the (supposedly secret) affair that he is having with another employee (the Tony-nominated Jane Krakowski), and you have a successful recipe for a show that includes the classic songs, "A Trip to the Library," "Tonight at Eight," and "Vanilla Ice Cream." Levi is especially endearing in his vocals, and Benanti's voice soars in the role primarily associated with Barbara Cook.

The orchestrations by Larry Hochman are fresh and vibrant, and the recording quality is top notch. The 1963 recording is still considered the penultimate archive of this musical from the writers also presently being represented on Broadway by "Fiddler on the Roof," but this recording is worth getting based on the talents of Levi and Benanti.

"She Loves Me" (2016 Cast Recording)
CD and digital formats
$14.99
www.ghostlightrecords.com