She Loves Me: The New Broadway Cast Recording (1993 Revival)
Anyone who doubts the influence and enduring appeal of cast recordings should take note ofShe Loves Me, an intimate, romantic, and totally charming show by the team ofJerry BockandSheldon Harnick(Fiddler on the Roof) that had a short Broadway run in 1963. The show was kept alive by a legendary and unprecedentedtwo-LP original cast albumthat spurred numerous regional productions and, 30 years after the original run, this Broadway revival at the Roundabout Theatre. The sweet story (based on the same Hungarian play that inspired the filmsThe Shop Around the Corner,In the Good Old SummertimeandYou've Got Mail) focuses on two perfume shop coworkers (played byBoyd Gaines, who won a Tony for the role, and Diane Fratantoni) who can't stand each other, unaware they are romantic pen pals. Heading the supporting cast is the always wonderfulSally Mayes, who received a Tony nomination for the role of Ilona, even if she can't match the ditzy defenselessness of Barbara Baxley in the 1963 cast. In fact, it's almost an impossible task for any cast to match the original, but give this revival credit for givingShe Loves Menew life where it belongs--on the stage.--David Horiuchi