'She Loves Me' weak in dramatics

The IU School of Music made its usual summer foray into music theatre this weekend with its production of the 1963 musical "She Loves Me."\nSet in a Hungarian parfumery, designed to storybook perfection by faculty designer Robert O'Hearn, "She Loves Me" follows two sales clerks who, to the great amusement of the audience, despise each other in person while oblivious to the fact they are each other's amorous pen pals. The feeling of deja vu is no coincidence. The musical is based on the play "Parfumery" by Miklos Laszlo, which also beget a screen version -- the 1940 Jimmy Stewart classic "The Shop Around the Corner" -- which itself beget a remake in the form of the Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks film "You've Got Mail."\nWith such a classic love story -- not to mention a saccharin-sweet score by Jerry Bock, perhaps better known for his recently revived "Fiddler on the Roof" -- one would think a successful production would be an exercise of ease. But while O'Hearn's attractive and functional set and Michael Schwandt's subtle lighting design provided a greatly stylized ambience, the cast, under the direction of faculty member Vince Liotta, left just enough to be desired to prohibit calling the production a complete success.\nThe chorus was duly charming and in some instances provided greater expression than the leads they were purportedly supporting. Graduate student Benjamin Eley was serviceable at best in the role of Mr. Maraczek, the paternal parfumery owner. Graduate student Jacob Sentgeorge turned in a sadly unmotivated performance as senior sales clerk Ladislav Sipos, while graduate student Erik Friedman's swallowed sound hardly left anyone bereft when his character, the womanizing Steven Kodaly, made his song-and-dance farewell. Finally, while graduate student Courtney Crouse was at times adorable as the romantic heroine Amalia Balash, even her saddest and most contemplative moments remained merely the stuff of sappy love ballads.\nHowever, there were many performances of positive note. Graduate student Nicholas Provenzale was in great voice and even greater spirit as the romantic hero Georg Nowack. Also pleasing was graduate student Matthew Gailey's adorable interpretation of the maniacally ambitious delivery boy Arpad Laslo. \nAnother fine performance was offered by the always-charming senior Jennifer Feinstein as Ilona Ritter, the empty-headed sales clerk with a heart of gold and absolutely no taste in men. Feinstein showed herself to be one of those rare vocalists willing to lose themselves dramatically in a role, giving the audience an amusing trip to the library they won't soon forget. \nThe surprise scene-stealer of the evening was the consummately snooty head waiter, played hilariously by senior Brian Samarzea. To Bloomington's local theatre aficionados, Samarzea is best known for his recent association with the now defunct theatre company Bloomington Music Works. Now a student in the IU School of Music, he brought to the stage a level of dramatic commitment approached only by a handful of his fellow cast members. \nOperatic presentations can nearly be excused for their lack of dramatic quality for they presumably possess a fine enough score that music alone justifies the production's presence on stage. The existence of a book, however, rids a cast of this safety net and reveals none too subtly the failure of most vocalists to create a character dramatically as well as musically. This weekend's production was no doubt both charming and entertaining. It just can't be helped to wonder how much better similar productions will become once vocalists cease exercising dramatic restraint.