Most people who know Hello, Dolly! may not realize that Dolly is an Irish woman who married a Jewish merchant. The show is based on a one-act farce originally written in 1835 and made into a full-length play in 1842. In 1938, Thornton Wilder adapted the 1842 version into an American comedy entitled The Merchant of Yonkers. It lasted 39 performances on Broadway. Fifteen years later, after Wilder had extensively rewritten the play and renamed it ”The Matchmaker,” a new production was mounted. It had a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and at London’s West End and opened on Broadway in 1955 and ran for 486 performances. The most significant part of Wilder’s rewrite was taking a minor character from the original and turning her into the centerpiece of the show, one Dolly Gallagher Levi, a widow who brokers marriages and does other things in Yonkers, New York late in the 19th Century. She sets her sights on a local merchant, Horace Vandergelder, after he has hired her to find him a new wife. And so, the adventure began with everything one would expect in a comedy with its roots in farce; mistaken identities, secret meetings, separated lovers, a near riot with a night in court, and in the end, everything turns out well with everyone ending up with their perfect match. The show, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart, has become a workhorse of a musical with seven revivals, four on Broadway including one all-black cast starring Pearl Bailey and Billy Daniels. Of all the revivals, the most successful is the current one that opened starring Bette Midler. The list of stars that have played Dolly during the original run on Broadway and in the touring and regional companies is a Who’s Who of stars of stage and film. This Dolly is Bernadette Peters, and she is a terrific Dolly playing her with all the sensitivity and nuance the role deserves. Dolly Gallagher Levi was not a “busy-body” sticking her nose into everyone’s business. She was a survivor who found interesting and creative ways to survive in the man’s world of the 1880s and 90s. The character is drawn as “larger-than-life,” but it is not meant to be played that way and it is clear that Ms. Peters understands that by the way she interprets the role. My only quibble with Ms. Peters’s performance is that her voice is not up to some of the vocal demands of the score. Still, she is, overall, in good form and wonderful to hear. Victor Garber as Horace Vandergelder handles the role with skill and sees in the character more than just a blustery, cantankerous, businessman intent on getting what he wants. He shows us the vulnerability of Horace and gives depth to what is generally a not clearly defined character. The other characters central to the story are Irene Molloy, superbly played by Kate Baldwin, a hat-maker who is being matched with Horace, her able young assistant Minnie Fay, beautifully and comically portrayed by Molly Griggs, Cornelius Hackl, the “chief” clerk of Mr. Vandergelder’s store, a fully realized character by Gavin Creel, and Barnaby Tucker, an impressionable, naive young man who is a very junior clerk at the store, and played perfectly by Charlie Stemp. This group will become the couples whose matches are made while swept into the whirlwind “Dolly Levi” and her pursuit and manipulation of Horace Vandergelder. The performances of these actors in the Act I, Hat Shop scene is memorable. The comic timing of this ensemble, which continues flawlessly after Ms. Peters and Mr. Garber enter, is outstanding. Ms. Baldwin’s rendition of “Ribbons Down My Back” proves superb as is the ensemble’s presentation, with the corps of dancers, of the song “Dancing.” Two other important moments in the show: the first is Ms. Peters’s rendition of “Before the Parade Passes By,” which ends the first act. She sings it with a sensitivity that reveals the true character of Dolly and gives a clear understanding of what she is really doing in all of the events that have transpired up to this point. At the opening of Act II, Horace Vandergelder gives us his biography in a song, “Penny in My Pocket,” which Victor Garber handles with ease, showing us a clearer indication as to the true character of Horace. This act also gives us three major production numbers in one scene. Of the three, the most recognizable is, of course, “Hello, Dolly!” the show-stopping production number of the title song with the “dancing waiters and cooks.” Ms. Peters, resplendent in a scarlet gown, commands the stage as it should be for such a character and performer. The other song that stands out in this act, “It Only Takes a Moment,” is sung by Gavin Creel, Kate Baldwin, and the ensemble as they await judgment in the night court for a small riot that was created at the Harmonia Garden Restaurant after a dance contest went awry. Dolly is the savior of this group as she puts on another of her many “hats” and woos the judge to her view. Santo Loquasto’s costumes fill the stage with an explosion of color while his sets deliver effectively the venues for the action. Warren Carlyle’s choreography pays tribute to the original Gower Champion production while still maintaining an independence. Jerry Zaks’s direction is deft and distinct from other productions. All in all, it is definitely a good evening of entertainment, Broadway style.
