It's a shame that director Nicholas Martin's production doesn't afford the show the same admirable balance and restraint. Martin appears to have directed this show in absentia: everyone and everything on stage seems to have come from a different show. The cartoonish costumes are like something out of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Leading lady Kate Baldwin plays Amalia more like Peggy Sawyer from 42nd Street. And Brooks Ashmanskas plays George like a combination of Pseudolus from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Albin from La Cage aux Folles.
Ashmanskas is unquestionably a gifted man, one whom I've admired in numerous recent productions, including the Huntington's own Present Laughter, as well as Broadway's The Ritz and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. But from the second he came on stage, I knew there was going to be trouble. Ashmanskas here is all mannerisms and exaggerated facial expressions. He seems to constantly be saying "insert laugh here" rather than trusting the material and giving an honest performance. And as for being a convincing leading man, well, let's just say that when he got to the lyric in the title number that goes "I love her, isn't that a wonder?" I turned to my friend Richard Carey and said "Um...yeah, it is."
The lovely and talented Kate Baldwin imbues Amalia with a spunk and a sprightliness that might have been appropriate for any other leading lady. There was very little vulnerability in her Amalia, which makes it hard to believe she's such a loser in love. And there's no spark between her and Ashmanskas, either during the fight scenes or the inevitable denouement, but this is not entirely the actors' fault. Baldwin is simply misdirected, Ashmanskas miscast.
But as Richard and I exited the theater, we marveled at how much we really enjoyed the show. Richard has directed She Loves Me twice before, and asserted that it really is a fool-proof recipe: all the ingredients are there, and practically anyone can make it work, unlike, say, Carousel, which requires a master chef. It's a testament to the perfection of She Loves Me that it somehow winds up working despite the misjudged casting and absent direction of the Huntington production.
