“She Loves Me” performed its final show at the Doudna Fine Arts Center Sunday afternoon.
The love drama invoked audible gasps and oohs and ahhs, rife with passion, betrayal and humor.
The scene is set in the 1930, mainly taking place in Mr. Maraczek’s Parfumerie following main character Georg Nowack, a shy young man working as a salesclerk in the parfumerie.
He is one of the two pen pals anonymously writing to one another, one of the only people he can vent his animosities to because of his toxic workplace. The feelings of love and tension grow over the course of the fall and winter seasons. However distant his letter-writing lover may seem to be, she is certainly much closer than either could have expected.
The musical “She Loves Me” was first released in 1963 on Broadway, written by Joe Masteroff with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music composed by Jerry Brock. However, the trio was inspired by the script “Parfumerie,” written by Miklós László in 1937. László had multiple iterations, though “She Loves Me” is considered to be one of the most faithful adaptations of the predecessor, dramaturg Christiana Molldrem Harkulich wrote in the playbill.
of “She Loves Me.” (Submitted by Austin Corley)
The main cast featured Ethan Vice starring as Georg Nowack, Olivia Enlow starring as Amalia Balash, Andi Hortenstine as Ilona Ritter, Mitch Cox as Steven Kodaly, Trendan Campbell as Ladislav Sipos, Marie Mullinax as Arpad Laszlo, Harrison Hahn as Mr. Maraczek and additional performers such as Cayden Speerbrecker, Brianna Olshawsky, Abby Smith, Jemma Allen, Emily Ritter, Rylee Beckel, Mason Kurtz and Patience Cox.
Stage manager Corbin Cox led the tech crew alongside assistant stage managers Makayla McPhedran, Jarrett Swan and Andrew Whalen.
The music ensemble, directed by Rebecca von Kamp, performed song titles like “Good Morning, Good Day,” “Goodbye Georg” and “Tango Tragique.”
Many of the main cast had notable performances with Doudna under their belts that aided their skill set on stage.
For example, Enlow had previously established her abilities on stage for play titles such as “Xanadu,” “Children of Eden” and “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” She is currently here as a junior student majoring in theater.
Ethan Vice, starring as Georg Nowack, had previous experience in acting in titles “John and Jen” and “Children of Eden.” He currently sings in the EIU a Cappella group Blue Fusion, alongside being a member of Phi Kappa Theta.
According to Vice, auditions and callbacks were held on the first week of classes. Rehearsals began shortly after, on the third week. From audition day to closing night, the whole process took roughly two and a half months.
Vice shared that among his favorite scenes were the ones shared between him and Enlow.
“The scenes that we have together helped to develop our characters and ended up being a lot of fun,” he said. “Some favorite moments from the process were the times that we bonded as a cast, such as through our group chat, a private Instagram account themed around the show and during our 10 plus hour tech rehearsal.”
Asha Hoak can be reached at at 581-2812 or at ahoak@eiu.edu.
