After 45 years, Jerry Herman's musical "Hello Dolly!" is a still a feel-good confection of fun and nostalgia.
Based on Thornton Wilder's play, "The Matchmaker," the 1964 Tony-winning Broadway musical features music and lyrics by Herman and a book by Michael Stewart.
The very first Dolly, the inimitable Carol Channing, struck gold as the mischievous matchmaker. And an eager roster of talented actresses followed in her footsteps, including Barbra Streisand in the 1969 film version.
The musical takes us back to New York circa 1890, when ladies wore hats, gloves and corsets, and dresses had bustles, ruffles and trains. The resourceful and clever widow, Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi, a lady-of-all trades, carries a business card for every occasion. Mostly, she's a matchmaker. "Some people sew; I meddle," quips the Widow Levi.
When the curmudgeonly half-millionaire Horace Vandergelder hires Dolly to find him a wife, she secretly sets her over-sized bonnet for him. But penny-pinching Horace, who owns a feed store in Yonkers, has his hat set on another widow--the fetching Irene Malloy of Manhattan. No problem. Dolly has a plan, and the bellowing Horace is no match for her wily maneuvers.
When he heads to New York to officially offer for his fiancée, Horace's two underpaid clerks, Cornelius and Barnaby, decide to play hooky from their jobs and go to Manhattan. Not only do they want to see the sights, they make a vow-they won't come back until they've kissed a girl.
Of course, all roads lead to Dolly. She teaches the clerks to waltz, she plays Cupid for Horace's niece Ermentrude and her artist sweetheart, Ambrose, and she diverts Horace with a faux heiress.
In 5th Avenue's production, Dolly is portrayed with sassy attitude by Jennifer Lewis. Occasionally her cheeky chutzpah overpowers the warmth of her character, but her irrepressible spirit and comic instincts are hard to resist. Her loveliest moments come when Dolly communicates with her dead husband, asking her beloved Ephraim for a sign of approval for her marriage plans. This shows Lewis in a gentler light.
Her husky voice may powerful, but Lewis sometimes has a pitch problem. Although she belts Act One's big anthem, "Before the Parade Passes By," it sometimes seemed forced. Act Two's cheeky number, "So Long, Dearie" is more suited to Lewis's voice, as is the show-stopping title song.
Local celebrity Pat Cashman's performance as Horace grows on you. Horace is a pill; he brags that he's "rich, friendless and mean, which in Yonkers is as far as you can go." But by show's end, when Dolly finally has her way with him, Cashman turns Horace's grumpiness into gentility.
However, the supporting cast gives the show's two stars a run for their money. Suzanne Bouchard is sublime as Irene Malloy. She radiates elegance, charm and romance, especially when her soprano soars wistfully on "Ribbons Down My Back."
Her new wannabe suitor, Cornelius, is endearing played by Greg McCormick Allen. He's perfect as the shy and awkwardly sincere Yonkers yokel who's utterly smitten with the widow Malloy. And Allen's rendition of the ballad, "It Only Takes a Moment," will melt your heart.
Other mentions go to Krystle Armstrong as Horace's wailing niece Ermentrude, and Matt Owen as her lovesick sweetie Ambrose. Ditto for Mo Brady as naïve Barnaby and Tracie Beazer as the lively Minnie Fay. All eight dancing and singing waiters are terrific. They do cartwheels and leap through the air while balancing trays of fake food in one hand.
It's obvious that director/choreographer David Armstrong took pleasure in steering this production. The frantic scrambling at Malloy's hat shop is amusing, the dancing sequences are delightful, and some of the scene changes, inspired.
Designer Michael Anania elevates the mood with his wonderful sets--from the smoking train at Grand Central Station and rustic Yonkers feedstore to the plush pink-and-white boutique and the grand staircase at Harmonia Gardens.
Over all, the chorus costumes are period-perfect, but Dolly's wardrobe tends to be hit-and-miss. Even her gown for the title number could use a bit more glitz-despite those magnificent feather plumes atop her head.
Herman's score remains a Broadway classic. In fact, two "Dolly" tunes made it into the Oscar-winning animated feature, "WALL*E." So a whole new generation has embraced "It Only Takes a Moment" and "Put on Your Sunday Clothes."
The latter is one of this show's best production numbers. The chorus appears in gorgeous, all-white turn-of-the century couture. Like a picture postcard, they sell the song with nostalgic whimsy.
The second act is better than the first, typical of this musical. Everyone's waiting-both the audience and the singing/dancing waiters--for Dolly to make her big entrance at Harmonia Gardens. Once she sashays down that grand staircase, the musical fireworks begin. Dolly and her dynamic male entourage strut their stuff in the title song.
It's a showbiz moment delivered with sparkle and pizzazz. Just the way we like it.
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