She Loves Me, the romantic musical by Joe Masteroff, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick, will be performed by the University of Michigan’s acclaimed Department of Musical Theatre at The Encore in Dexter for nine performances only. Directed by U-M professor Sydney Morton with music direction by Tyler Driskill and choreography by Sean McKnight, the production will showcase rising stars of the stage. Audiences will have the rare chance to see the next generation of Broadway talent in an intimate setting before they reach the national stage.
The story follows Georg and Amalia, clerks at Maraczek’s Parfumerie who spar endlessly at work while secretly corresponding as romantic pen pals. Both search for love and both are frustrated by their circumstances, blind to the affection that grows within the very shop where they clash. A warmhearted blend of comedy, romance, and melodic songs, She Loves Me explores mistaken identities, the small mercies of kindness, and the joy of discovering love in unexpected places.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1963 with book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, best known as the creators of Fiddler on the Roof, which will also appear at The Encore next summer. Its origins trace back to the 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László, later adapted into Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner and updated for modern audiences in Nora Ephron’s 1998 romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail…