People Will Say We’re in Love: Favorite Broadway Romances

Romance. A driving force in storytelling. The motive (and sometimes downfall) of some of our favorite characters. No matter what way you look at it, it pulls a narrative through highs and low, like a pounding heart.

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I compiled a roundup of my favorite on stage portrayals of love in the theatre. So let’s talk about love!

But be forewarned, this post will contain show spoilers!

Georg Nowack and Amalia Balash (She Loves Me)

A classic case of enemies to lovers. Based on the 1937 play Parfumarie, She Loves Me originally premiered on Broadway in 1963, though many theatre fans today are familiar with the 2016 Roundabout Theatre Company revival.

She Loves Me gives a glimpse into the live of the employees of Maraczek’s Parfumarie. Georg Nowack, our leading man and assistant manager to the store, reveals he has been writing letters to a woman he knows only as “Dear Friend.” Georg’s world is soon turned to disarray at the arrival of Amalia Balash, a young woman looking for a job at Maraczek’s. Georg and Amalia soon get on each other’s nerves at the shop, and their stubborn personalities turn them to fast enemies.

Amalia has also been writing to a man she calls “Dear Friend,” and arranges one night to meet him in person. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Georg and Amalia have been writing to each other all along.

The audience is let in on the secret that Georg and Amalia are writing to each other before the characters figure it out themselves, allowing a satisfying tale of enemies to lovers to unfold in irony. She Loves Me is written with a one-two punch of quick wit and soft romantic gesture. Cliche? Maybe. But it leaves the audience satisfying romantic arch.

Not only do you get to watch the realization in Georg and Amalia as they figure out their feelings for each other, but you get to watch a complete arch from first meeting to falling in love. The piece holds up even for a modern audience.

Amélie Poulain and Nino Quincampoix (Amélie)

The romanticization of ordinary life. Based on the 2001 film of the same name, Amélie tells the story of a shy young woman through a whimsical depiction of Parisian life. Amélie, a waitress living in Montmartre, decided to change the lives of strangers around her through kindness, while struggling with her own isolation. The musical finds whimsy in mundane activities, and finds the beauty in every day life.

In her interactions with neighbors and locals, Amélie develops an attraction to Nino, a young man who collects disposed passport photos from the photo booth and keeps them in an album. Amélie happens upon the album and enters into a cat-and-mouse type game to return the album to Nino.

Eventually, after a screening from her friends, Nino confronts Amélie, and she decides to let him into her life, leading to a moment of happiness she found for herself.

Throughout the story, Amélie feels she is always halfway away from something—that even when she makes it half way, there is still another half and another half, and so on. Nino comes to encourage Amélie that he could meet her halfway—that being in a relationship means being able to meet each other in the middle, not one person extending them to the other.

There relationship blooms out of the average and ordinary, and feels very lifelike. It celebrates the beauty in small shared moments, and emphasized that we are never entirely alone.

Donny Novitski and Julia Trojan (Bandstand)

A tale of finding love after loss. Bandstand shines the spotlight on a group of veterans struggling with PTSD after returning home from the war in 1945. Lead by Donny Novitski, they band together to compete in an American Songwriting competition. Along the way Donny meets Julia Trojan, a widow looking to redefine her live after losing her husband. She joins the band as a “Gold Star” wife and the band’s lead vocalist. The show serves as a powerful piece on they narrative of the American Hero, versus the realities of the price of being called a hero.

Donny and Julia’s love story comes out of something unexpected when they write a song together called “Love Will Come and Find Me Again.” The pair find they’re an exceptional writing team and the song captures Americans’ hearts and sends the band on their way to New York City, before Donny and Julia realize love really has come to find them again.

The musical features moments of strength and weakness between Donny and Julia, and how the tragedy both of them faced is complex. Arguably, their grief is what brings them closer together. Their relationship blossoms on somewhat of a delicate notion of looking to what their lives are beyond who they thought they were.

Donny and Julia’s relationship develops through the show and is satisfying in seeing them get together after a heartbreaking rendition of “This is Life,” and deciding they want to continue to be in each other’s lives.

Guy and Girl (Once)

The shared temporary love. Based on the 2007 movie of the same name, Once features the love between two kindred spirits who take the form of struggling musicians. While the show doesn’t give either of the lead characters a name, it simply refers to them as Guy and Girl, giving the show an eternal feeling. Girl meets Guy when he decides to give up on making music, as it reminds of him of a former relationship. Girl encourages him to keep going and together they decide to get Guy to write an album, while slowly falling for each other. The catch is that neither of them are available in that moment. Guy is still tied up with his past love, and Girl is revealed to be in a relationship of her own.

Regardless, they find romance in the mundane, through late night recording sessions and playing at the bar. The entire show takes place over about a week or two, leaving an impact on the small moments they share. In the end, they decide to go their separate ways, but the imprint they left on each other’s lives will last a lifetime.

Many musicals showcase a love in a setting of love at first sight romance or a love that could last a lifetime, and create this concept of romance as this grand gesture. Once celebrates the shared moments we have with strangers. Leaving the characters nameless gives kind of a larger than life feeling to the film, and in turn the stage adaptation, because it’s a statement to strangers and the concept of kindred spirits.

They enjoy each other’s company knowing that this is temporary. Guy is not over his ex girlfriend. Girl is struggling with her estranged marriage and what is best for her family. There is an air of “if things were different,” or “if I was not who I am, we could be together,” and while the story is sad, it doesn’t make it any less valuable as a story to tell. Guy and Girl make the absolute most out of the time they have in each other’s lives, and ultimately find that even though it was temporary it was the best solution. This relationship shows how someone can come into your life for a short period of time and still change your perspective on your own life.

Anya and Dmitry (Anastasia)

The star-crossed love. Breathing new life into the stage adaptation of the beloved 1997 film of the same name, Anastasia captures the fairytale vision of the legend of the fall of the imperial empire and the Grand Duchess Anastasia.

In the fictionalized retelling, Anya, a street urchin, strikes a deal to go to Paris with Dmitry, a dashing con man in St. Petersburg—the only catch is she is to act as the lost Grand Duchess for a small reward. Throughout their journey together, Anya and Dmitry start off with their differences, but end up falling for each other as they travel to Paris.

Their shared affection is revealed in their Act II duet, “In a Crowd of Thousands,” when Dmitry recalls the time he saw the Grand Duchess in a parade as a boy. Anya surprises him when his story triggers her memory of seeing a boy at the parade.

Childhood love at first sight turned enemies to friends to lovers rolled into one of the dreamiest on stage romances that has captured my heart. Sure the romance in Anastasia is trope-filled, but what can I say? It’s a trope for a reason.

“In a Crowd of Thousands” reveals their early attraction to each other, but their more sincere feelings are revealed in Dmitry’s sobering “Everything to Win,” and Anya’s heartfelt reprise.

While their goal of getting Anya to the Dowager Empress has been realized, Anya and Dmitry both come to terms with the fact their reward means nothing without the other to share it with.

The full character arch of the story is that neither Anya nor Dmitry leaves Paris with what they came for. Anya leaves her new life to be with Dmitry, and Dmitry refuses the reward for Anya’s return. It draws the story to a close on choosing love, and choosing to fulfill a narrative we have written ourselves.