Why I Love She Loves Me: Nicholas Martin

Like many mid-century New York kids, I was introduced to the theatre by way of the American musical; then sweetly (and accurately) called the musical comedy. It was a rite of passage for Jewish kids from the suburbs to be hauled aboard the BMT subway and carried to the matinees of shows by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Jule Styne, and Irving Berlin. In retrospect, the phenomenal thing to remember is that those composers all had shows running at the same time. It was truly a special time to grow up in the theatre. Love at first sight struck this kid when I saw (or perhaps heard) Ethel Merman in Annie Get Your Gun, and I was stuck with a lifelong need to be part of the profession that there’s no business like.

Many years and many musicals later — though fewer and fewer as the century grew older and yielded to the genius of Sondheim, and the workaday middlebrow musical theatre of the British — there are only a handful that still remain vivid, not to say, life changing. Among these, She Loves Me has always haunted me most persistently, especially the unique power of its book and music despite the gentle romanticism of the piece. Its score is arguably the most eloquent, original, and varied ever composed. As Barbara Baxley, the original Ilona, remarked, “the music kept us so happy. No one can listen to that music every single night and not be happy.”

The book, based on an excellent play and a classic movie (The Shop Around the Corner) is unusually tight for a musical, and the piece provides bravura roles for no less than five performers, and some delicious cameos for several more.

Yet, like many other truly transcendent pieces of art, She Loves Me was not a smash in its Broadway premiere. Slowly, it graduated to the limbo status of cult musical, until finally, in a stunning Roundabout production directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Rob Marshall, it became the big fat hit it deserved to be in the1993 revival.

From its ethereal music to its taut and witty book to the joy in its performances, I’m sure you will fall for She Loves Me. Ultimately though, I’m directing it as my final show as artistic director of the Huntington so that I may recover a little of that boy on the subway, and perhaps give Boston the gift of eternal youth that She Loves Me inspires in everyone who knows it.

- Nicholas Martin

To read why others, including cast members Brooks Ashmasnkas, Jessica Stone, and Kate Baldwin love She Loves Me, click here. Why do you love She Loves Me? Just click below to tell us your story...

Part six of a series, with notes by Jared Craig and Ilana M. Brownstein. Photo: Suzanne Kreiter/Boston Globe

Why I Love She Loves Me: Hal Prince

Hal Prince

Director and Producer of the 1963 Broadway premiere

I loved everything about She Loves Me, not only the finished work but the entire experience of producing and directing it in 1963. However, I should say I had little experience directing — none on a musical — but of course I’d been observing George Abbott and Jerome Robbins for a number of years, and apparently had been paying attention. The show starred four major performers: Barbara Cook, Dan Massey, Barbara Baxley (straight from the Actor’s Studio), and Jack Cassidy. All of them were artists, none of them were easy. So, during the almost five weeks of rehearsal, I believe they challenged everything I said, every move I told them to make, every motivation, every line reading (I did give line readings when necessary). I do not believe they let up on me until tech rehearsals, when miraculously it all seemed to have been planned by its director, and the show was working. I don’t blame them; I wouldn’t have listened to me either! The day after the show opened on Broadway, I received two wires: one from Richard Rodgers, and another from Leonard Bernstein, both of whom were blown away by it. 50+ musicals later, if not one of the most audacious I've ever done, I certainly rank it among the best.

-Hal Prince

Part five of a series, with notes by Jared Craig and Ilana M. Brownstein

Why I Love She Loves Me: Jessica Stone

Jessica Stone

playing Ilona; Huntington appearances in Betty’s Summer Vacation and Springtime for Henry

What I love about She Loves Me is so obvious that it’s boring to read. Woven together with an unbelievably charming score, it turns the boy-meets-girl formula inside out and upside down. What I love about this production of the show is the chance to tell this story with some of my dearest friends. That’s an exuberance that can’t be faked. I mean, spring in Boston with Brooks Ashmanskas and Nicky Martin?!

- Jessica Stone

Part four of a series, with notes by Jared Craig and Ilana M. Brownstein

Why I Love She Loves Me: Brooks Ashmanskas

Brooks Ashmanskas

Georg in She Loves Me; Huntington appearances in Amphitryon and Present Laughter

I was first exposed to She Loves Me as a kid via the original cast album (I do mean “album!”), and I have adored it ever since — so many great songs. A few years after I moved to New York, Scott Ellis’ revival opened and I saw it three times. Until seeing it, I hadn't realized just how perfect the show is; a lovely mix of old-fashioned structure and modern subject matter and sensibility. And that score! As for my favorite moment, it would have to be the end. I think it’s a perfect example (if done well) of what can happen only in a live musical — all of a sudden we all find ourselves where Georg and Amalia are: in love. Them, with each other; us, with She Loves Me.

- Brooks Ashmaskas

Part three of a series, with notes by Jared Craig and Ilana M. Brownstein

Why I Love She Loves Me: Kate Baldwin

Kate Baldwin

playing Amalia;

Appeared in the Huntington's production of Falsettos

My favorite moment of She Loves Me is the song “Will He Like Me?” It starts out in a very measured and steady way, containing Amalia’s apprehension. Then, the bridge of the song bursts forth with a rush of happiness, only to subside again. The end is a sweet mix, brimming with equal parts hope and self doubt. It’s one of the best songs ever written for the musical theatre.

- Kate Baldwin

(photo with full company - Kate's on the right - front row)
Part two of a series, with notes by Jared Craig and Ilana M. Brownstein

Why I Love She Loves Me: Scott Ellis

Scott Ellis

Director of the 1993 Broadway revival, and of the Huntington’s Streamers

Several years after I directed the Broadway revival of She Loves Me, while visiting the Lincoln Center Library, I inquired whether the taped version made specifically for the archives had been viewed. I was told it was one of the most watched shows because it is truly “the perfect musical.”

- Scott Ellis

Part one of a series, with notes by Jared Craig and Ilana M. Brownstein