Hello, indeed.
“Hello, Dolly!” pranced, kicked, tapped and waltzed its way onto the Centennial Hall stage this week and greeted an audience eager to see the musical, hear its tunes and glory in the way Broadway shows used to be — big and happy and lavish.
And this roadshow of the Broadway hit did not disappoint.
True, it didn’t have Bette Midler, who made a splash in the 2017 revival of the play.
But who needs Bette when you have Carolee Carmello in the role of the matchmaker Dolly Levi.
Carmello, a Broadway veteran with a number of Tony nominations under her belt, has a voice that soars and a comedic timing that is spot-on.
There is a scene in the second act that has her at a table alone consuming vast amounts of food with the groans and gasps of a woman enjoying every crumb, and the laughter did not stop rolling. And she pulled at our heart when she sang “Before the Parade Passes By,” a lovely lament about putting life back in life.
She embodied the widowed Dolly who, in 1885 New York, is a matchmaker. A dance teacher. A lawyer. Dolly can do it all.
The story, adapted from Thornton Wilder’s play, “The Matchmaker,” has Dolly seeking a match for the rich and miserly Horace Vandergelder (John Bolton gave him a delicious curmudgeonly persona). Then Dolly decides she’s the perfect match for him. Now to convince him of that.
The comedic team of Daniel Beeman and Sean Burns, who played Horace’s hapless store clerks who head off for adventure in New York City in defiance of their boss, provided laughter and made the secondary story in the play as much fun as the Dolly-Horace line.
Director Jerry Zaks went almost cartoony with this production, but that couldn’t detract from music that is infectious, acting that was impressive, and dancing that was astounding.
Adding to that cartoonish impact were the colorful, bouncy costumes by Santo Loquasto, who snagged a Tony Award for his work in this musical.
Warren Carlyle is responsible for the choreography (he embellished what original choreographer/director Gower Champion did) and it was a stunner. Rarely have we seen an audience give prolonged applause and cheers after a dance number, and that’s what happens in “The Waiter’s Gallop,” which took place in the upscale restaurant where Dolly makes her grand entrance in a signature red dress. And the reaction was well-deserved.
They don’t make pieces like this anymore. Musicals with massive casts; big, show-stopping tunes; and giddy, ain’t-life-grand song-and-dance numbers are so passé.
But these are dark times. We could use a throwback musical to lift our spirits. And “Hello, Dolly!” does just that.
