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Hello Dolly
Synopsis
HELLO, DOLLY! is the story of Mrs. Dolly Levi's efforts to marry Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-a-millionaire, and send his money circulating among the people like rainwater the way her late husband, Ephraim Levi, taught her. Along the way she also succeeds in matching up the young and beautiful Widow Molloy with Vandergelder's head clerk, Cornelius Hackl; Cornelius' assistant, Barnaby Tucker, with Mrs. Molloy's assistant, Minnie Fay; and the struggling artist, Ambrose Kemper, with Mr. Vandergelder's weeping niece, Ermengarde.
Mrs. Levi tracks Vandergelder to his hay and feed store in Yonkers, then by train back to Mrs. Molloy's hat shop in New York, out into the streets of the city where they are all caught up in the great Fourteenth Street Association Parade, and finally to the most elegant and expensive restaurant in town, the Harmonia Gardens. There, Dolly is greeted by the waiters, cooks, doormen and wine stewards in one of the most famous songs in the history of American musical comedy, Hello, Dolly!
What happens in the end? Dolly gets her man, of course. Even makes him glad she caught him. Dolly leaves the stage at the end of Act II with a wink to the audience as she takes a peep into Vandergelder's bulging cash register, and promises that his fortune will soon be put to good use. She quotes her late husband as she says, "Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow."
HELLO, DOLLY! is an ebullient and irresistible story of the joy of living, glittering with happy songs, shining with loving scenes, alive with the personality of one of the most fabulous characters on the musical stage...Dolly Gallagher Levi!
Classic musical numbers include Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Ribbons Down My Back, Before the Parade Passes By, Elegance, It Only Takes A Moment and So Long, Dearie.
Director: Janet Smith
Musical Director: Marian Harries
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"HELLO DOLLY"- TORCH THEATRE - 16th MARCH 2009 WHAT A TONIC!! In the eponymous leading role,Terri Harrison shone as a youthful,positive and endearing Dolly. Looking and sounding lovely, she brought both assurance and style to all of her musical numbers. Playing Horace Vandergelder, the grumpy object of Dolly's desires, David Coates struck all the right notes singing and acting wise.A strong characterisation, it made a perfect foil for the effervescent heroine. Ben Meagher and Aaron Lewis gave highly entertaining and mature performances as Cornelius and Barnaby, the two put-upon employees of Vandergelder's Feed Store - their combined joie de vivre spilling out into the auditorium.As milliner Irene Malloy and her assistant Minnie Fay, Janine Wilson and Jessica Cale were delightful, being easy on both the eye and the ear and pairing well with the boys from Yonkers. Kate Everett as Horace's niece,Ermangarde, together with Lewis Powell as her beau, Ambrose, played their parts with winning relish as also did Lisa Lloyd. She was clearly having great fun as the less than ladylike Ernestina. Smaller parts were delivered with verve by Val Arnold,Jeff McCarthy,Edward Smith,James Marjoram,Alan Spence and Dilwyn Evans.The male ensemble of Waiters/Bandsmen - Gary Crane,Nathan Davies,Bill Hirst,Keith Luke,Shane Morgan,Chris Prosser,Edward Smith and Lawrence Stalbow-Best - was great. The singing was lusty and lyrical and their enjoyment plain to see.The ladies and gentlemen of the Chorus were committed and effective in their always essential role and looked totally in character in costumes which were uniformly attractive. A truly excellent Orchestra under the baton of Musical Director,Marian Harris,expertly played Jerry Herman's famous and melodic score which in turn was extremely well sung throughout by the entire cast.The title song, sung by Dolly and the Waiters, was a terrific number.Also, "It Takes A Woman", "Elegance" and "So Long Dearie" - all perhaps lesser known songs from the show - very much came into their own I felt. Jenny Whyte. |
A night with the Milford Haven Amateur Operatic Society.
The MHAOS were in fine form with their performance of Hello Dolly according to John Mitchell of the PDFT Terminal Staff.
If you weren’t there WHY NOT!
“We had a brilliant evening’s entertainment that kept you wanting more! The cast were excellent and gave a polished performance. We send congratulations to the MHAOS and look forward to next year’s production. It was noted that Jude Laxton’s exuberance had everyone on their feet asking for an encore.”
There were some wonderful individual performances with perfect comic timing, asides and sideward glances which set the audience giggling and laughing along with tragic moments when we all felt drawn into the characters. Dolly Levi (Terri Harrison) held the performance together beautifully with Horace Vandergelder (David Coates) supporting her with all the emotions, anger, confusion and ‘ornery cussedness’ well portrayed. Especially good were the double act of Cornelius Hackl (Ben Meagher) and Barnaby Tucker (Aaron Lewis) who alternately made us giggle, laugh and cry sometimes at the same time!
The rest of the cast including, of course, our own Bill Hirst gave a polished performance changing characters and clothing many times to suit the scene. When all the cast were on stage the sound was as good as any West End show.
What a superb evening’s entertainment comments Pam Passmore as she writes.
What was particularly special for me was that I returned to my nursing home the next day and chatted to my residents about the show. One of them, who is at present quite poorly, smiled for the first time for quite a while especially as her daughter was part of the production singing on stage. A big thank you from many of the residents.
Article as seen in the MHPA Newsletter for March 2009
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