She Loves Me (2018): Director's Note

      In 2002, My friend Beau was working at Tibbitt’s Opera House in Coldwater, MI. He got a set of free tickets to their big musical for the year and invited me along. The show was She Loves Me. We both loved it.  I picked up the 90’s cast recording and listened to it a million times over the next few years. Amanda had a similar experience seeing it in Miami, FL. with Mike. They saw it and it stuck with them. Cut to 2008.

Directing Scene 1.4 in 2008

     When we decided to launch Valley Theatre, it was an obvious choice for our first show. We already had affection for the characters and that great music. Plus it appeals to me as a show with a small cast and an offbeat little story. It remains one of my favorite musicals, which brings us to 2018.

Cast Selfie at 2018 Read-through

    Directing it again after all of these years was an interesting experience. Not only was I directing the actors, but in a way I was directing my 25 year old self. When rehearsals began we’d get in to a scene and I’d find myself catching things I’d missed before. I’d nudge things in a different direction thinking, “Not so fast 25 year old Nic.” I’ve enjoyed working with Mike, Amanda and Paul in reprising their original roles. Knowing the characters as well as we do has given us a freedom to try new things and see what shape the scenes take. It’s been memorable. I don’t think I’ll run out and re-direct all of my old favorites, but this was a very fitting way to cap our first ten years. Here’s hoping I age as well as this show.

Also, in preparation for the show I interviewed Mike, Amanda, Josh and Vanessa on The All the Books Show.   You can find the audio here. 

Debrief to follow...

She Loves Me (2018): Press Release

The Valley Theatre of Houghton, NY, began ten years ago with a production of Tony-award winning musical comedy, She Loves Me.  The group continued to perform shows annually including recent, well-received productions of Steel Magnolias and Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, as well as last year’s Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, A Grand Night for Singing.  Now to commemorate their ten year anniversary they are restaging the show that started it all.  She Loves Me tells the story of two bickering clerks who don’t realize that they are actually secret pen-pals who are quickly falling in love.  This popular story has been adapted to film on three separate occasions including the Jimmy Stewart led The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime with Judy Garland, and most recently, You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  As before this production is directed by Nic Gunning with Mike Cox, Amanda Cox and Paul Young reprising their roles as Georg Nowack, Amalia Balash and Mr. Maraczek, respectively. Shows run September 13th and 14th (Thursday and Friday) at 7 p.m. in the community room of the Houghton Wesleyan Church (9712 Rt. 19, Houghton).  The production will then move to the Nancy Howe Auditorium at the David A. Howe Public Library (155 N. Main St.  Wellsville) where shows will run at 7 p.m. on Saturday September 15th and 2 p.m. on Sunday September 16th.

The Wellsville shows are sponsored by the Friends of the Library and will be presented free of charge.

To hear an exclusive interview with the cast of She Loves Me, tune in to this special episode of my podcast.