Opera Saratoga presents an intimate production of Bock, Harnick and Masteroff’s jewel-box musical She Loves Me. Famous for tunes like “Vanilla Ice Cream,” “She Loves Me” and “It’s Been Grand Knowing You,” this sweet story focuses on two employees in a Budapest parfumerie who are sworn enemies during the day but unsuspecting lonely hearts penpals at night.

The musical is the third adaptation of the 1937 play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner and the 1949 musical version In the Good Old Summertime. (It surfaced again as 1998’s You’ve Got Mail). The plot revolves around Budapest shop employees Georg and Amalia, who, despite being consistently at odds with each other at work, are unaware that each is the other’s secret pen pal met through lonely-hearts ads.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 1963 and ran for 301 performances, was produced in the West End in 1964, and received award-winning revivals on each side of the Atlantic in the 1990s (as well as numerous regional productions). Although the original Broadway run was not a financial success, She Loves Me slowly became a cult classic, and the massively successful 2016 Broadway revival became the first Broadway show ever to be live-streamed.

Opera Saratoga’s production features guest artist Jarrett Porter as Georg Nowack, and festival artists Christine Taylor Price as Amalia Balash, Kate Morton as Ilona Ritter, and returning baritone Shavon Lloyd as Steven Kodaly. Making his Opera Saratoga debut is acclaimed tenor Peter Kazaras, featured here as Mr. Maraczek. Other cast members include Michael Segura, Jack O’Leary, Wagner Mauricio Pastor, Fantine Douilly, Sung-yeun Kim, Chuanyuan Liu, and Danny Lugo.

The production will be directed by John Matsumoto Giampietro and conducted by Adam Turner with scenic design by Krit Robinson, lighting design by Anshuman Bhatia and costume design by Audrey Nauman and Michael Schaffner.

Location:

Universal Preservation Hall

25 Washington Street

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

ABOUT OPERA SARATOGA:

Opera Saratoga, formerly known as Lake George Opera, began with a production of Die Fledermaus at the Diamond Point Theatre on July 5, 1962, playing to an audience of 230. The Company now calls Saratoga Springs home and performs for more than 25,000 people annually. Opera Saratoga celebrates its 60th Anniversary this season. The company serves the communities of Saratoga Springs, the Lower Adirondack and New York State Capital areas by providing access to world-class opera through the production of an annual Summer Festival, as well as year-round activities including extensive educational programs, mentorship of emerging operatic artists, and unique opportunities for the public to experience opera in both our home theater and non-traditional venues that leverage and embrace the unique cultural, historic, and natural resources of the area. To date, the company has performed 108 different fully staged works by 69 different composers, including 44 works by American composers and 15 premiere productions. Opera Saratoga’s staff includes General and Artistic Director Mary Birnbaum, Executive Director Amanda Robie and the Head of Music Staff and Festival Artist Program, Laurie Rogers. For more information, visit www.operasaratoga.org

ABOUT PETER KAZARAS:

Peter Kazaras is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at The UCLA Herb Alpert

School of Music, where he served from 2007-2024 as the Inaugural Director of Opera at

UCLA. A stage director and teacher, he was also Artistic Director of the Seattle Opera

Young Artists Program from 2006 to 2013. As an operatic tenor, he performed

worldwide at The Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Vienna

State Opera, L’Opéra National de Paris, and other venues. Recent directing assignments

have taken him to Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera,

Glimmerglass Festival, The Dallas Opera, the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera,

and The Juilliard School. In the summer of 2018, he directed A Quiet Place for

Tanglewood as part of the Bernstein Centennial celebration. Just before the pandemic

shutdown, he directed a critically acclaimed new production of Samson et Dalila for

Washington National Opera. Peter Kazaras has worked on numerous world premieres

both as a singer and as a director. At UCLA, he directed, supervised, or produced over

fifty productions, including the recent world premiere of The Grand Hotel Tartarus,

with music and libretto by Richard Danielpour. A frequent panelist on the Toll Brothers

Metropolitan Opera Quiz, Kazaras is also in demand as a judge for competitions, both

national and international. He is working on several new operas as librettist, dramaturg,

stage director, and producer.

For more about Opera Saratoga’s 2025 season, visit www.operasaratoga.org.