Rice University’s Wiess Tabletop Theatre will present “She Loves Me” at 8 p.m. April 17-19 in the Wiess Commons. The show is free to Rice students, and others can attend for a $5 general admission fee.
Set in a 1930s European perfumery, the play features shop clerks Amalia and Georg, who more often than not don’t see eye to eye. After both respond to a “lonely hearts advertisement” in the newspaper, they now live for the love letters they exchange, but the identity of their admirers remains unknown. Will their love continue to blossom once their true selves are finally revealed?
An intimate and touching show, featuring music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (“Fiddler on the Roof”) and book by Joe Masteroff (“Cabaret”), “She Loves Me” was nominated for five Tony Awards in 1964. The 1993 Broadway revival won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical and the Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, while the 2016 Broadway revival snagged the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design, beating “Hamilton.” Considered one of the most charming musicals ever written, “She Loves Me” is a warm romantic comedy with an endearing innocence and a touch of old-world elegance. The Miklos Laszlo play “Parfuemerie,” on which it is based, has inspired many adaptations, including the film “You’ve Got Mail” starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Following a string of darker, more introspective student productions, director and Lovett College junior Birdie McCain chose “She Loves Me” to bring a different energy to the stage.
“We wanted something really different and fresh,” McCain said. “It’s a rom-com. It’s joyful, and it gives our performers a chance to show off vocally. The music is challenging, but we have a lot of talented singers, so we wanted something that could showcase that.”
A show set nearly 100 years ago might seem distant from a modern college audience, but for McCain, the key to bridging that gap lies in focusing on human continuity rather than historical difference.
“You want to portray a real person, not just a person from a long time ago,” she said. “People still want the same things. They love the same things. At its core, this is a story that could happen today.”
That sense of timelessness is central to McCain’s vision, particularly in the show’s exploration of dreams versus reality.
“There’s this idea of perfection as a facade,” McCain notes. “You must take a leap of faith to move past that and find something more real, sometimes in hard ways and sometimes in beautiful ways. But it does take a big step of faith to break past the facade of perfection.”
The main characters’ relationship remains compelling because it prioritizes emotional connection over appearance, McCain said. The characters fall in love first through words, then must reconcile that intimacy with the complexities of real-life interaction.
“It’s like they get two chances at love,” McCain said. “Both are meaningful in their own way.”
McCain emphasized that the heart of the show lies in its performers and musicians. She gives special recognition to the orchestra pit, which faces an unusually demanding score.
“This show has about twice as many songs as most musicals,” she said. “The music is incredibly difficult, and our instrumentalists have done an amazing job bringing it to life.”
Ultimately, McCain said she hopes audiences leave with a sense of joy and recognition.
“I hope they smile a lot,” she said. “But beyond that, I hope they see something real in it. This is a very character-driven piece. I want people to fall in love with the characters and maybe even see parts of their own lives reflected on stage.”
For more information, visit instagram.com/wiesstabletoptheatre. Purchase tickets online for Friday, Saturday or Sunday.