‘Hello Dolly’ still very funny and heartfelt
Of course, you will be leaving the Marriott Theatre production of Hello Dolly singing its famed theme song but what you are likely to be talking about is the shows fabulous choreography and fine acting.
What audience members who already had tickets for Sept. 15 might not know is that after previews, that date was the show’s new opening night. It came two weeks after the original opening Aug. 31 was canceled due to Covid among some cast members.
Possibly they might have noticed that the production didn’t include a staircase that Dolly Levi typically comes down for a grand entrance into her favorite café, Harmonia Garden. A note with the program said there was a hydraulic problem.
The delay and staircase absence just didn’t matter. The production and performances received a well-deserved standing ovation.
Superbly directed and choreographed by Denis Jones, this old crowd-pleasing musical was filled with wonderfully comic and heartfelt moments.
There is the delightful Act One scene in widow Irene Molloy’s (Rebecca Hurd) hat shop where Cornelius Hackl (Alex Goodrich) and Barnaby Tucker (Spencer Davis Milford), two young Yonkers lads in New York for a night on the town, try to hide from their employer, widower Horace Vandergelder (David C. Girolmo). He left Yonkers to meet a perspective wife with help from matchmaker Dolly Levi (Heidi Kettenring).
And, there is the hysterical moment played to the hilt by Kettenring near the end of Act II when she prolongs her fellow characters’ riot case before a judge by thoroughly enjoying the dinner she had started back at Harmonia Gardens.
As to heartfelt, there is Hurd beautifully singing “Ribbons Down My Back” as she puts on one of her hat creations for her sudden date with Hackl.
And there is Kettenring bringing audience members close to tears with her rendition of “Before the Parade Passes By.”
But every scene is well directed and choreographed by Jones to bring out the best sentiments expressed in Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmake.
Shoutouts have to go to the Marriott Orchestra conducted by Brad Haak, to Music Director Ryan Nelson, Costume Designer Theresa Ham and to Co Scenic Designers Jeffrey D Kmiec and Milo Bue.
Even though Hello Dolly opened on Broadway in 1964, matchmaking hopes are still alive today with online dating and the desire to participate in life “before the parade passes by,” is still a strong motivator.
