Opera Theater opens summer season with Bock's 'She Loves Me'

The School of Music's Summer Music Festival kicks off its elite summer opera season next week with Jerry Bock's 1964 musical "She Loves Me." The opera is scheduled for July 9 through 11 at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre.\n"She Loves Me," the basis for the films "You've Got Mail" and "In the Good Old Summertime," was inspired by 1940 film "The Shop Around the Corner" starring Jimmy Stewart. The film was an adaption of Miklós László's play "Parfumerie," set in Budapest.\nProtagonists Amalia Balash and Georg Nowack are co-workers at a perfumery who detest each other. Antics ensue when the two become anonymous pen friends and fall in love, unaware of each other's true identities. \nVincent Liotta, stage director and choreographer, said "She Loves Me" is a romantic drawing room comedy set to a musical. \n"It is one of my favorite shows," Liotta said. "I have always been a proponent of this musical."\nRobert O'Hearn, chairman of the design department and set designer for "She Loves Me," said he has liked this musical since he saw its first Broadway production with the original cast in 1963.\n"It has wonderful music, and it is very romantic," O'Hearn said. "It was written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, who also wrote "The Fiddler on the Roof.'"\nO'Hearn said his set design was inspired by the picture of a story in Budapest. The set is mounted on pivot points with the perfumery on one side and the exterior of the store on the other. He said he tried to recreate the 1930's Budapest look for his set.\n"I consulted the book 'Everyday Fashions from 1930s' for the costumes," O'Hearn said. "We are using the Hungarian pengo for the currency and an old period cash register."\nSenior Nicole Brickley, crew head, revealed a personal touch the IU painting crew added to the set.\n"They have put up their picture in the perfumery and a copy of the rehearsal schedule," she said.\nO'Hearn and Brickley also mentioned the customized Oil of O'Hearn and 2004 Year of the Cicadas perfumes on display at the store.\nBrickley said the opera is going to be a unique performance because it is the first show produced by the IU Opera Theater to be held in another building.\n"This is also very different because we have just three shows instead of the regular four shows," she said. \nGraduate student Courtney Crouse, who plays the role of Amalia, said she finds the musical charming and endearing and hopes the audience will enjoy it, too.\n"It is not a typical musical," Crouse said. "It is smart, funny and fast-paced, and we have a great cast."\n--Contact staff writer Sheeba Madan at smadan@indiana.edu.