Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's musical "She Loves Me" ought to be entitled "She Loves Me First," because we know that they went on to write the music and lyrics for the incomparable "Fiddler on the Roof." But they wrote "She Loves Me" first. If there is one problem with the season's new San Francisco Playhouse musical production it is a lack of memorable songs. There is cleverness, and a lot of wit in the humorous numbers, but you will search in vain for "Sunrise, Sunset" or "Tradition."
We enjoyed watching Katrina Lauren McGraw (above, left), alone or in ensemble. Nanci Zoppi (below, right) is a standout as Ilona Ritter, the shop girl who longs for romance. Zoppi has a loopy stage presence that counteracts the cool of some of the others.
Jeffrey Brian Adams plays Georg. Georg loves Amalia (Monique Hafen) and Amalia loves Georg, but, you know, a lot has to happen first. Adams plays his usual under-motivated, detached role, while Hafen is at her absolute best when they take the wraps off and let her be Luci Ricardo, like in the delicious "Where's My Shoe?" and "Vanilla Ice Cream."
We applaud the decision to utilize live musicians and place them where we can see them play, instead of in a pit or, worse, using a pre-recorded track. This makes all the difference in the world. There were some unfortunate squeaks but we will take the small pains to enjoy the larger pleasure.
The ensemble of Katrina Lauren McGraw, Leah Shesky and Ayelet Firstenberg are standouts. And we always love Joe Estlack. The musical good-bye each shopper receives upon leaving the store reminds us there was a time before Amazon.
RATINGS: ☼ ☼ BANG
Each season, the San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division looks forward to the Christmas musical at San Francisco Playhouse. These days, we all need escapism. In our opinion, though there are lots of things to like about "She Loves Me," we can't help wishing the music grabbed us more.
TWO STARS with a BANGLE OF PRAISE for making us wish shopping was still this much fun.
"She Loves Me"
San Francisco Playhouse
450 Post Street, San Francisco
2d floor of Kensington Park hotel
Through January 14, 2017
$30-$125
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