MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance students will take audiences back in time to the 1930s with the upcoming musical “She Loves Me.”

“She Loves Me” runs Thursday, Nov. 7, through Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre at 615 Champion Way.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for seniors and $10 for K-12 students. They can be purchased online at mtsu.edu/shelovesme or at the Tucker Theatre box office before each performance. MTSU students, faculty and staff can attend for free by presenting their current university ID at the box office. No late entry will be permitted after the box office closes.

Directed by Department of Theatre and Dance Chair Kristi Shamburger, “She Loves Me” is based off a book written by Joe Masteroff. The show’s music was done by Jerry Brock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.

Shamburger, an associate professor, said she has been “smitten” with the musical since she first discovered it during her own college days in 1990.

“You will laugh, you might shed a tear, you will smile, and you will be tapping your toes and humming the tunes long after the evening is over. Delightful music and a celebration of finding love the old-fashioned way, ‘She Loves Me’ is written by the well-known musical theatre writing team Bock and Harnick, probably best known for writing ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’” said Shamburger.

About She Loves Me

Accompanied by a live orchestra under the direction of MTSU School of Music master instructor Angela Tipps, “She Loves Me” is set in a 1930s European perfumery where the audience meets shop clerks, Amalia and Georg, who, more often than not, don’t see eye to eye. After both respond to a “lonely hearts advertisement” in the newspaper, they now live for the love letters that they exchange, but the identity of their admirers remains unknown.

Join Amalia and Georg to discover the identity of their true loves and all the twists and turns along the way.

Watch a sneak peek of what you can expect in “She Loves Me” in the YouTube video below.

MTSU Cast

The cast and crew began working on the production in early September after auditions were held in April. Students are part of the project from the very first production meeting, through casting and rehearsals to the performance and striking the set.

“Their dedication and love for the craft is as strong as their talent,” Shamburger said of the cast and crew. “We get to spend evenings creating, laughing and enjoying beautiful music as we assemble this jewel. Although you only see 16 students on stage at a time, there are approximately 60 people working to create this ‘magic’ for (the audience).”

Shamburger added the incoming freshmen were also invited to auditions last spring.

“We had many of them take us up on this,” she said. “We do have an incredibly talented and sizeable group of freshman and transfers this year.”

The show, which is double cast, features an array of students from majors across MTSU.

Maye Hansen plays Amalia and is also the show’s choreographer.

“It’s been an interesting thing to juggle, but with the double-casting I can sit out and watch anytime Katelyn Austin is going on, and I have a dance captain to help me. It’s been an awesome experience,” Hansen said.

Rachel Oppmann, who plays Illona, said she is thrilled to be cast in “She Loves Me” as the first theatre production of her college career.

“I am overjoyed at the opportunity to play such a large role in my first MTSU production,” she said. “Growing up in Murfreesboro my whole life, I have always watched MTSU’s shows and dreamed of performing in Tucker Theatre.”

Oppmann said she has wanted to play the role of Illona ever since she saw the production of “She Loves Me” in Chicago.

“I couldn’t have dreamed that two of my aspirations would be fulfilled at once by playing this witty blonde on Tucker’s stage in November,” she said.

The cast includes:

• Maye Hansen, a theatre major from Manchester, as Amalia.
• Katelyn Austin, a theatre major from Lafayette, as Amalia.
• Emma Dolberry, a theatre major from Thompsons Station, as Illona.
• Rachel Oppmann, a theatre major from Murfreesboro, as Illona.
• Logan Purcell, a theatre major from Gallatin, as Georg.
• Coleman Wolfe, a theatre major from Spring Hill, as Kodaly.
• Tate Burgess, an aerospace major from Goodlettsville, as Sipos.
• Christian Newton, a theatre major from Hendersonville, as Arpad.
• Cameron Miller, a theatre major from Nolensville, as Maraczek.
• Liam Rudiwicz, a mechatronics engineering major from Collierville, as The Waiter

Ensemble members include:

• Caitlin Clements, a music major from Murfreesboro.
• Kelsa Lunsford, a music major from Jackson.
• Libby Reasonover, a theatre major from Murfreesboro.
• Julia Peasall, a dance major from Cottontown.
• Caleb Heath, a theatre major from Murfreesboro.
• Jackson Roy, a theatre major from Bells.
• Eli Luker, a theatre major from Christiana.
• Seth Pratt, a theatre major from Jackson.

Hear from some of the “She Loves Me” cast in the YouTube video below.

Additional details about the production, including a digital program and a full cast and crew listing, are available at https://audienceaccess.co/show/MTSU-10888.

For more details on MTSU Theatre and Dance productions, visit www.mtsu.edu/theatreanddance/currentseason.php.

For more information about MTSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance in the College of Liberal Arts, visit www.mtsu.edu/theatreanddance. For details on MTSU Arts events and supporting its student programs through the Patrons Society, visit https://mtsu.edu/mtsuarts.

— DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)