In Love with Love

By T.E.K.

SHE LOVES ME

Book by JOE MASTEROFF Music by JERRY BOCK Lyrics by SHELDON HARNICK

Major hit musicals rarely attract cult followings. Everybody enjoys them. But in the semi-hit ranks, certain shows acquire ardent admirers who tend to feel that their pet musical has certain special qualities that the general audience does not fully appreciate It may be the tuneful charm or sophistication of the score or the sentiments expressed in the book, but such a play becomes a kind of collector's item for theatrical cognoscenti.

She Loves Me qualifies for this category. It will be followed, in a series at Manhattan's Town Hall, by Knickerbocker Holiday (Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson) and John LaTouche's The Golden Apple. These are all concert readings without scenery but tailored to the rather obvious delight of devotees of original-cast albums.

As a revival, She Loves Me has the faded fragrance of a pressed flower. The musical is shamelessly romantic, head over heels in love with love. Amalia (Madeline Kahn) and Georg (Barry Bostwick) are secretly lonely-heart pen pals who have corresponded ardently for a year. Neither happens to have given the other a clue to the fact that they are fellow clerks in the same Budapest parfumerie. Ecstatic about each other in print, they are rather allergic to each other in person. When will the epistolary lovers discover the secret behind their secret? With all the fine talents caroling and cavorting onstage, it is not a pressing question.

While the voices of the lovers are richly harmonious, their acting styles are not precisely attuned. Kahn, a proficient comedienne, caricatures herself at times. She lacks the vernal innocence intrinsic to the role. Bostwick, on the other hand, could be playing a slightly baffled Romeo, which happens to be just right for this part. Rita Moreno is an animated delight as the amorous prey of a slickly narcissistic cad (Laurence Guittard). and George Rose lends his customary authoritative presence to the role of the autocratic shop owner with a heart of fudge. As for Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, they serve playgoers a song feast in which music is indeed the food of love. T.E.K.

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