CENTER STAGE: She Loves Me.

Falling in love has never been so thrilling. In a passionate production of the musical She Loves Me, the Penn Players enrich the classic "boy meets girl" scenario with real meaning and emotion. This is a searing romance expertly cut with wry humor and light, catchy music. Not only is the play a dreamy vision of what "first love" is, but the endearing cast is able to make the audience weak in the knees as well. College junior Elizabeth Mitchell is particularly charming as Amalia Balash, a young woman working at a perfume shop in Europe in the 1930s. This is a character who is both an ingenue and brilliantly resourceful, witty and oversensitive. Mitchell brings particular life to her role when she sings. Unlike other cast members who break character in order to break into a song, Amalia's lilting voice and fluid-yet-clumsy bodily movements flow easily from speech to tune. "Vanilla Ice Cream" is unusually well-performed. Her paramour, Georg, is also well-played by College senior Walt Mancing. Intense, bookish and amiable, Georg is an equally loveable protagonist, and the perfect counterpart to Amalia. Mitchell and Mancing transfix the audience with a heady attraction that at first seems based on hostility, and then simmers into true love. Yet, the play never becomes sappy or uninteresting, because it simultaneously pokes fun at the melodramatic nature of romance. "I'm trembling," Georg croons when he realizes his love for Amalia, but he immediately follows this up with, "What the hell does that mean?" Supporting characters are just as entertaining as the leads. College freshman Ellen Trachtenberg brings complexity to her role of Ilona, a character who, but for Trachtenberg's mature interpretation, could have been little more than a bimbo with bad luck. Never has a sleazy womanizer been more irritable than Steven Kodaly, played by College senior Christopher Wilkes. It is rare to be able to watch a character use and abuse a woman without wondering, "What does she see in him?" but Wilkes is able to pull this off. With a highly detailed set and an excellent orchestra which is unfortunately hidden from view off stage, She Loves Me is a sweet success. At times, it is difficult to believe Penn Players is a student performing arts group. --Jorie Green 5 stars