Emporia State’s theatre department will present “She Loves Me” by Joe Masteroff, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock Oct. 3-6 in King Hall’s Karl C. Bruder Theatre.
“She Loves Me,” which made its Broadway debut in 1963, is based on the 1936 Hungarian play The Parfumerie by Mikos Laszlo. The story revolves around two pen pals who fall in love through the written word, but don’t know that they actually work together at a perfumery and don’t like each other in person.
“We chose this story because it’s important in this day and age when there are things going on in the world that are not fun to deal with to provide a means of escapism. Just leave all your troubles behind, come into the theater and see a show about two people falling in love,” said Aubrey Wilson, associate professor of theatre and director of the musical.
This is the first time in the history of homecoming musicals that ESU theatre has performed “She Loves Me,” and it is also Wilson’s first time directing a musical at ESU. It is also a first for costume designer Kelsey Looney and choreographer Marah McFadden. Broadway lighting designer Ted Charles Brown will be in charge of lighting for the show. Brown has done lighting design for all kinds of media from ESPN to traveling Broadway shows.
Usually homecoming is at the end of October, which means there have been three weeks less of rehearsal this year. Because of this, those involved have doubled down on their efforts, working approximately forty hours per week on the musical.
While the original Broadway cast of She Loves Me boasted a young Barbara Cook, ESU’s show has a talented cast of their own, according to Wilson.
“We have a great mix of students… Alex Knudsen playing George has done two summers of summer theatre… he is an incredible performer, great dancer, great actor, and incredible singer. Rachel Schaffer, who plays Amalia, is a powerhouse performer. She is painting the set, she wrote the press release, she is an actress excelling in everything she touches. When she graduates I know she is going to do great things,” said Wilson.
Homecoming scholarships are also being awarded for the first time this year and everyone both on and off stage received a $500 scholarship reward for their hard work.
“The most special thing about it is that there’s involvement from all over. Hopefully it will enhance the student experience … students are working on something bigger than themselves to put together a giant piece of artwork in a limited time frame. They deserve every accolade they could get,” Wilson said.