A love letter to the American musical
Boy meets girl. Strike that. Boy writes to girl; girl writes to boy. By night, they are passionate pen pals brought together by a lonely hearts ad. By day, the unsuspecting “lovers” are quarrelling clerks at a European parfumerie, surrounded by a cast of coworkers with longings of their own. Based on the play, Illatszertar by Miklos Laszlo, that also inspired the film You’ve Got Mail, and with music by the songwriting team who created Fiddler on the Roof, this effervescent romance will sing its way into your heart.
Age Recommendation: The play touches on marital infidelity and romantic affairs; therefore it is best suited for children age 10 and up who are able to handle the subject matter. Please view our full age recommendation here.
Run Time: 2 hours and 43 minutes and includes one 15 minute intermission.
e-Luminations: "Dear Friend"
Click here to read an excerpt from Illuminations, OSF's 64-page guide to the plays.
Audio:
Show Introduction
Synopsis:
“It’s too nice a day to be stuck inside of a store” sing the employees of Maraczek’s Parfumerie in a European city in the 1930s. Still, they all force themselves indoors: salespeople Ladisov Sipos, Ilona Ritter, Steven Kodaly and Georg Nowack; the delivery boy Arpad Laszlo; and owner Mr. Maraczek.
After the morning rush, Georg reads another letter he’s received from “Dear Friend,” a pen pal he’s never seen nor met. However, he’s interrupted by a shipment of musical cigarette boxes. They prove a dud with customers until the arrival of job-seeker Amalia Balash, who is so determined to get hired she manages to sell one. To Georg’s dismay, Mr. Maraczek hires her.
Georg and Amalia take an immediate dislike to one another and constantly bicker. At the same time, they take solace in the intimate and stimulating letters they receive from their pen pals, who, we soon learn, are actually each other. Amalia reveals to Miss Ritter that she found her “Dear Friend” through a personals ad in the newspaper, which makes Miss Ritter wonder whether she would be better off had she not fallen for Mr. Kodaly’s good looks and empty promises.
As the autumn progresses, Mr. Maraczek becomes increasingly irritated with Georg for no apparent reason, finally losing his temper and firing him the very day Georg and his pen pal have finally arranged to meet. A private investigator informs Mr. Maraczek that his wife has been having an affair with Mr. Kodaly, not Georg, as he assumed.
Amalia, of course, has also arranged to meet her Dear Friend that night. She arrives first for her much-anticipated date at the Café Imperial, a rose in her copy of Anna Karenina to signal her identity. When Georg shows up, he’s horrified to discover that his loathed co-worker is actually his Dear Friend. Rather than reveal the truth, he mocks Amalia so mercilessly that she finally lashes out, wounding him deeply. He flees, leaving her alone and humiliated.
Act II opens with Mr. Maraczek in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound, the result of a botched suicide attempt. He apologizes to Georg, then promotes him to manager. Georg’s first order of business is to fire Mr. Kodaly, but not before he visits Amalia, who has called in sick.
Thinking he’s spying on her, Amalia becomes hysterical, but Georg consoles her with a lie about the older, fat, bald man who broke his date with her. After he leaves, Amalia tries to write to Dear Friend, but her thoughts keep turning to Georg.
Back at Maraczek’s, Miss Ritter announces she’s over Mr. Kodaly, who makes a characteristically flashy farewell. As the hectic Christmas rush approaches, Georg makes an effort to befriend Amalia, so much so that she even invites him to spend Christmas Eve with her and her mother … and Dear Friend.
Georg now must figure out how to reveal the truth to the woman who loves him but doesn’t know it.