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At center, Marah Sotelo as Amalia Balash and Max Kligman as Georg Nowack in “She Loves Me.” Photo by Robin Jackson

The Mountain Play and Ross Valley Players, two of the most acclaimed theatrical organizations in Marin, are teaming up for the holiday season on a co-production of She Loves Me. The play is based on Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklós László and has been adapted multiple times over the years, from the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner to the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

The plot of the play, which runs Nov. 13-Dec. 22 at The Barn at Ross Valley Players, revolves around Budapest shop employees Georg Nowack and Amalia Balash who, despite being consistently at odds with each other at work, are unaware that each is the other’s secret pen pal met through lonely-hearts ads. She Loves Me is directed by Nicole Helfer with musical direction by Jake Gale. 

The co-production between two of the oldest Marin County community theater companies is the first full production collaboration between these two companies since the 1930s. In 1935, Ross Valley Players brought their production of The World We Live In to the mountain as that season’s Mountain Play production. In fall 2018, the two companies collaborated on the musical reading of a new work Swiss Family Robinson

“The long friendship of these companies has continued behind the scenes, but in November 2019, it steps center stage with She Loves Me,” says Mountain Play Executive Director Eileen Grady.

The production stars Marah Sotelo (Amalia), Max Kligman (Georg), Chelsey Ristaino (Ilona), Anthony Maglio (Kodaly), RRon Dritz (Maraczek), Patrick Barr (Sipos), Alex Cook (Arpad), Michael Walraven (Keller), and Alex Munoz (Busboy). The ensemble includes Mackenzie Cahill, Dana Cherry and Sophie de Morelos.

The 411: The Mountain Play and Ross Valley Players are teaming up for the holiday season on a co-production of She Loves Me. The play runs Nov. 13-Dec. 22 at The Barn at Ross Valley Players in Ross. General admission tix $40 ($25 for Nov. 13 preview) and  $25 for youth 21 & under. MORE INFO & TIX.

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