She Loves Me delivered exactly what everyone wants during the holiday season: a feel-good musical comedy awash with romantic trials and tribulations, sentimentality and humor, and plenty of singing and dancing.

Set in 1930s Hungary, She Loves Me, based on the book by Joe Masteroff and featuring music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, follows the adventures of the staff of Maraczek’s Parfumerie. Two perfume clerks, Georg and Amalia — played by Dongmin Kang ’20 and Yara Mustafa ’20 — are constantly at odds with each other, but unbeknownst to them they are also long-time anonymous pen pals who have fallen in love over the pages of their letters. Georg and Amalia stumble their way to a happy ending aided by their friends at the perfumery, each of whom has their own worries and dreams that were brought to life on stage through charming song and dance routines reminiscent of some of the decade’s most iconic musicals.

Some 20 cast members, 24 crew members, nine orchestra members, and tens of faculty and staff worked together to present this year’s fall musical, directed by Alison Trattner, to family and friends in the Abdul Majeed Shoman Auditorium on December 8, 9 and 10. Impressive set designs depicting bright and colorful shop and restaurant interiors, cozy homes and cold and blustery Hungarian streets, lively music, talented acting and impressive vocals brought the musical comedy alive and put smiles on the faces of the packed audience.

Cast
Elias Tannira ’20, Faris Kassisieh ’23, Liliana Abuzeid ’23, Oday Fraij ’22, Dongmin Kang ’20, Fares Habbab ’20, Fay Aljasem ’22, Josephine Koehring ’22, Tuleen Naser ’22, Josie Wender ’22, Susan Aloudat ’22, Elea-Maria Abisamra ’21, Layla Zaatar ’20, Jouna Hasan ’21, Maya Helmi ’22, Ghalia Zureikat ’22, Taha Noui-Mehidi ’21, Yara Mustafa ’20, Ahmad Ismail ’21, Roufei Shang ’21

Crew
Ahmad Ismail ’21 (Student Assistant Director), Langqing Xie ’22, Wedad AlRousan ’22, Sama AlIssa ’23, Wadei Tadros ’22, Seokhyeon Hong ’20, Kyung Phil Lee ’22, Yuru Wu ’22, Mohammad Allabadi ’22, Yanlin Li ’22, Hannah Allam ’22, Zaid Khraisat ’22, Maryam AbuHawash ’21, Tamara Lutfi ’23, Maryan Bakir ’22, Ke (Coco) Deng ’22, Kleobetra AlZoubi ’20, Raya Helmi ’22, Sihan Liang ’23, Tina Naber ’23, Nadine Ismail ’23, Tasneem Rabata ’21, Kareem Alsawalha ’22, Roufei Shang ’21 Faculty: Ms. Alison Trattner, Ms. Judith Goltz, Ms. Yousra Al Dokum, Ms. Rachel Tils, Ms. Joanna Tutinji, Mr. Mohammad Amin, Ms. Lana AbuKhader, Mr. Abdelqader Abuoqah, Mr. Muhyealdeen Theban, Mr. Zuhair Odeh and team

Orchestra
Letong Qian ’20, Ms. Carolyn Cunningham, Roufei Shang ’21, Taha Noui-Mehidi ’21, Mr. Martin Peel, Zhengyu (Susie) Su ’21, Jianqiao Gao ’21, Xiquan Guan ’21, Mohamad AbuGhazaleh ‘20