After a run of a little more than two weeks, BYU Theatre wrapped up the show “She Loves Me” on Nov. 22.
“She Loves Me” was written by Joe Masteroff, with music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. It followed the romance between two coworkers who — though they bicker constantly when interacting face to face — are unknowingly writing anonymous love letters to one another under the moniker “Dear Friend.”
This musical is one of several works inspired by the 1930s play, “Parfumerie,” with other adaptations including the films “You’ve Got Mail” and “The Shop Around the Corner.” BYU’s rendition of the show was directed by Geoffrey Reynolds.
“We have amazing students here at BYU,” Reynolds said. “They’re so gifted, so talented and to see the light come on in their eyes as we're working and putting together the scenes ... it's beautiful to watch them grow through the process.”
The actors spent up to 20 hours a week rehearsing during the fall semester. During previous semesters, design students worked on the set, lights, costumes, hair and makeup. Reynolds said it was magical to see everything come together.
“The show lends itself to connection, especially in a very disconnected world,” Reynolds said. He explained that he loved "the idea of how connections happen and that we can come together and see people for who they are.”
Senior Austin Zimmerman, playing the male lead Georg, finds out that "Dear Friend" is the coworker he is so adversarial toward when he encounters his co-star Elena Shill (Amalia) at the restaurant. Amalia immediately starts an argument in an attempt to shoo him off — unaware that Georg is the man she has been waiting for.
“We get to see Georg and Amalia in their full force wittiness,” Shill said. “We get to see what makes them intellectual matches for each other. He's very irritating to her, but in a very funny and smart way. I feel like not every guy could match Amalia on that.”
The next morning, Georg visits Amalia with ice cream after hearing she is homesick.
“That’s such a strong moment (when) they learn to trust each other, because it's so vulnerable,” Zimmerman said. “Then they realize that they never really hated each other from the beginning.”
Former BYU Theatre professor Rodger Sorensen attended one of the earlier shows and appreciated the sense of redemption that comes as Georg and Amalia let go of their poor first impressions to get to know each other.
“The ending was extremely tender,” Sorensen said. “Very, very tender, and was well worth waiting for.”
From something as simple as the delivery boy asking for a promotion to the perfumery’s owner asking forgiveness for treating his employees poorly, supporting characters in the show had their own journeys of redemption. They learned to stand up for themselves, reflect on their own mistakes and grow past misunderstandings.
“The vision for the show is that we need to treat the people around us with more love,” Zimmerman said. “Because you never know what miscommunication is happening, you never know what people are going through.”
Audience member Kylie Falke, an elementary school teacher, commuted from Salt Lake to see the show on a Tuesday after it opened.
“It was a fun-loving show,” Falke said. “It filled my soul … I just came away feeling happy about theater and about the arts.”
Though BYU’s production of this play has been put on the shelf, the cast hopes their performance left audiences more inclined toward mercy and understanding.