Foote in the Door Productions debuts first big show

Russ Farmer, the St. Albert actor who has appeared at several Edmonton Fringe Festivals, steps into a revival of She Loves Me.

Foote in the Door Productions, a relative newbie in the theatre community founded by Farmer and Ruth Wong-Miller, mounts the Broadway musical for a limited engagement on Nov. 20 to 22 and Nov. 25 to 28 at Campus St. Jean Auditorium.

Barbara Mah directs this stirring romantic comedy about two perfume clerks who constantly butt heads. The feuding co-workers don’t seem to have anything in common. But little do they know that the anonymous romantic pen pals they’ve been writing to and falling for are each other.

If the plot of mistaken identity sounds familiar, it’s because it is. The Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan mega-hit collaboration You’ve Got Mail is the modern adaptation of She Loves Me. In turn, the 1963 Broadway version was based on Miklos Laszlo’s original 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie.

Hollywood was so enchanted with the concept a film version was created in 1940 as a vehicle for James Stewart titled The Shop Around the Corner. Nine years later it was re-filmed as In The Good Old Summertime, a musical showcase for Judy Garland.

And 1963 Broadway brought in the big moneymakers with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, also collaborators for Fiddler on the Roof.

Despite its illustrious pedigree, the musical is still unfamiliar to many.

“This was a favourite show of Ruth’s, but I hadn’t heard of it. The first thing I did was sit down and listen to it. There was a good combination of catchy music and great comedy. And it also has a Christmas connection that plays well for this time of year,” said Farmer.

He plays the male lead, Georg Nowack, the perfume shop manager, a man in his 40s.

“He’s not the smoothest guy around. He’s still a single man long after men of that era married. But he is a romantic and loves to read and that’s how he joins the lonely hearts club,” said Farmer.

As a shop manager, Georg is honest, capable and makes friends easily. But around women he is less confident and more self-conscious.

“Trying to find the shy guy, yet get him across as confident and capable in other areas was a challenge. Lots of people are really good and confident in their area of knowledge and more awkward outside it. In Georg’s case, his romantic side can’t seem to function with women.”

Georg is always quibbling with Amalia, a recently hired shop assistant that Wong-Miller presents as out of her time.

“In the 1930s, single women were less outspoken. She’s well read. She’s confident. Probably that’s what Georg found attractive. But it’s a source of a lot of their friction. She speaks her mind and stands up to him. She’s a woman ahead of her time,” Farmer explains.

The cast of 16 also includes St. Albert’s Christina O’Dell, whose character is Illona, the shop cashier who wants to settle down with a man, but always falls for the wrong guy.

O’Dell, known for her robust vocals, is excited that every character gets to tell their story through a song. Illona illustrates her potential through I Resolve, a driving, decisive number that expounds on her personality.

Illona, although street smart and money smart, is unable to read. O’Dell, a speech pathologist by day who spends her time helping children to understand language, finds the character opens up new avenues of thought.

“Now kids have a lot of access to services, but in 1937 the coping strategies and people were limited in the things they could do for her.”

She Loves Me was set in the golden age of musicals and has long been considered a charming throwback to a time of innocence filled with Old World elegance.

“This musical has a warm heart. It’s an awfully cozy show. You will laugh. You will smile and you can ring in the holidays with a heartwarming story.”