"She Loves Me"

[MarkRascati]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 8:45pm

I'm seeing this on saturday...how is it?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 8:46pm

Not sure that a more charming musical exists. If it's a good production, you should have a great time.

[wexy]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 8:51pm

I really enjoyed the Roundabout production a bunch of years ago.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 9:20pm

It's among my favorite musicals. I always regret that the film version with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke was never made. They would have been perfection.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 1:47am

Nothing like Barbara Cook singing "Ice Cream," what a marvelous connection of singer and song. I believe the score is fun, cute, and "charming" to quote Smaxie. Though I don't think anyone can perform Amalia's songs like Ms.Cook, it is still a fabulous musical by the great Harnick and Bock.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 2:57am

Though I mostly agree, Ruthie Henshall gives Ms. Cook a run for her money.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 8:38am

Henshall is good, but indulges in a few cutesie-pie mannerisms in spots (and John Gordon Sinclair sucks). Cook's Amalia has a combination of an outward sternness and aching vulnerability that are not matched in the other three recorded Amalias, and of course, she just sings the hell out of it. Given that the original Broadway cast recording has the full score in its original Don Walker orchestrations (instead of the 9 piece reduction), even the now unfortunately omitted "Tango Tragique," it's the one I always return to.

Updated On: 12/28/06 at 08:38 AM

[Overthewall]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 5:31pm

I do wish that they had recorded the Broadway revival before the wonderful Judy Kuhn had left the production. I'm sure she was amazing. But Ruthie is my favorite of the three recorded!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 5:36pm

I never saw Judy Kuhn but I doubt her Amalia would've matched Cook's or Henshall's. I think Ruthie Henshall does a great job in the London revival cast recording but as Smaxie said, what Cook does with Amalia is quite unique. I personally think Barbara Cook is one of our best musical theater actresses and it is always delightful to hear her perform a score as fun as the one from She Loves Me, especially "Ice Cream," "Tango Tragique," and "Where's My Shoe?"

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 5:58pm

There are at least four She Loves Me's on CD. Don't forget the Original London cast recording. (Well, you can sort of forget it. It's missing quite a few songs, has an OK rewrite of "Three Letters" and the inferior "Heads, I Win" in place of "I Resolve" for Rita Moreno's Ilona, as well as a couple of damaging changed lyrics). Anne Rogers is a pretty decent Amalia, although a bit more proper and restained than Barbara Cook.

[Danielm]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 7:28pm

ray-andallthatjazz86, I agree with you about Cook. She's still amazing.

Posted: 12/28/06 at 7:30pm

one of the best musicals written for the American Music Theater!

Yah for any theater who tackles this huge score!

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 9:12pm

It's one of those "caviar" shows. Too special to ever be embraced by the masses. When John Simon reviewed the revival, he wrote that whenever he listens to the original cast album, he tears up a bit at the end because the show is so perfect.

[Jon]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 9:30pm

I HATE the fact that "Tango Tragique" is cut from the current "offical" version of the show.

[TenThousandThings]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 10:03pm

Are you seeing the one at Arena Stage? I saw it a couple of weeks ago and thought it was wonderful. Not without its faults, but a lot of that, I think, is the writing. Nancy Lemenager was absolutely breathtaking. And I applaud Arena for staging the show in the round -- not an easy thing to do.

[MrAmySpanger]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 10:13pm

ice cream
barbara cook
old kcho?
what?

[jv92]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 10:19pm

Great show. Very charming. Wonderful score. It's popular among musical theatre writers. I believe it's one of the few shows Sondheim ever fully enjoyed and Fred Ebb listed it among his favorites.