Director’s Notes

As we relish the long-awaited spring, many thoughts and feelings come to mind; overall, a sense of hope, rebirth, and connection. Love is in the air!
If this is your first exposure to She Loves Me, you are in for a treat. Theatre historians consider it among the best-written book musicals of all time. Its message is as sweet as the title sounds while also filled with wit, life lessons, and every ounce of the range of emotion that comes with loving…and learning to love another.
She Loves Me follows a storyline that has seen many adaptations since its 1930s debut of the original piece, Parfumerie, by Miklos Laszlo. Some of the titles you may know include Shop Around the Corner featuring classic stars Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan, In the Good Old Summertime with Judy Garland, You’ve Got Mail starring a young Tom Hanks, as well as the Broadway debut in 1963, 1964 West End debut, a 1993 revival, and most recently, the 2016 Broadway revival, which was also the first Broadway show to be live streamed.
At its core, this show is about love in its many guises—romantic love, secret love, platonic love, unrequited love, betrayed love, and vocational love. It is a show with a gigantic heart and couldn’t come at a better time. Much like Europe in the 1930s, we often struggle to find the common ground and love between us. Often it is much easier to focus on our differences rather than dare celebrate our similarities and natural connection in our own humanity. This show, I believe, reminds us love is what truly matters in the end.
The musical’s amazing score soars and lifts the heart. Back to time when large orchestras filled historic theatres, the music of She Loves Me has a little of everything to make you laugh, ponder, relate, and enjoy. The world in and beyond Maraczek’s shop reminds us of what truly matters as we traverse tricky and tremulous landscapes of life and conflict.
I only hope that you will also feel the lift and joy of this timeless work, reminding us of the value of live musical theatre and the many facets of love in your life. I know it has reminded me how grateful I am to have my partner (and choreographer!) Emily by my side as we go through this amazing roller coaster that life can be.
***A special thank you to the School of Performing Arts, Amity, Matt and John for preserving a program that produces such strong and well-rounded artists. As an alum, it has been nothing but a joy to be back on campus, enveloped in what I love. I look forward to the longevity of the program and the exciting future ahead. ***

—Zeke Bocklage, Director