She Loves Me Theatre Essay

¶ … Roundabout's She Loves Me stars Jane Krakowski and Laura Benanti. Other key performers are Zachary Levi and Gavin Creel. Music is by The Jerry Bock and features classical tunes like "Will He Like Me," "Tonight at Eight," and "A Trip to the Library." In the scene the introduces the song "Will He Like Me," the character played by Laura is dressed in a white trench coat and hat with a sing song kind of melody and dress style reminiscent of the 1920's or 40's. Her dark brown hair looks as if it was pin curled and her makeup is faint with a light lip very indicative of classic movies like Casa Blanca.

Jane Krakowski sings "A Trip to the Library and while the set seems a bit a simple throughout the show, especially this number, (the bedroom scene with the number "Vanilla Ice Cream" seemed lazy in its preparation especially the small little Chinese food takeout that was supposed to be the 'ice cream) the manner of dress keeps in harmony with the rest of the scenes and keeps that 'Old Hollywood' feel. A good example of that is the "M" on Jane's white blouse that was often worn during that time and which she wears throughout. The calendar in the background was a nice touch adding detail to an otherwise underwhelming set. It had the month of November on it. Ba dum bad um bum was the way the song felt and it arched to a high soprano belt as did the previous song and was kind of the theme throughout the show indicating the movement and tension of the story.

The set for the scene which included the song "Ilona" was very detailed with many little perfumes in display cases and extra lighting effects to make it seem both whimsical and slightly seductive with hues of pink, purple, and yellow. There was an upper level as well and a staircase adding to the grandness and Jane wore a dress with a thigh-high slit and a prancing movement that both highlighted again the seductive qualities of the character and the set as well as the care-free feeling. My favorite part of that scene was when she climbed a smaller staircase and mimicked the scene from the movie Titanic.

Jane Krakowski is a well-known and respected actress and singer who has worked on several television shows from as early as 1997 in Ally McBeal to as recent as 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. She has worked in theatre for over 28 years with her first show on Broadway being Starlight Express followed by Grand Hotel. She along with others have worked for the Roundabout Theatre Company for years and are part of the rich 51-year history of the company. Although Jane has only done She Loves Me, the company has produced well over dozens of plays with some gaining great popularity like Cabaret.