Hello, Dolly! opens at The Western Stage

 

The Western Stage continues its 30th Anniversary Season July 24th with Hello Dolly!, a merry musical farce playing through August 14th on the main stage, Hartnell College Performing Arts Center, Salinas. Season subscriptions are still the best bargain for as little as $12 a ticket. Go to westernstage.com for complete information Hello, Dolly! plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00.  Call (831) 755-6816. (70 Word PSA)

 

 

The Western Stage opens the first main stage show of its 30th Anniversary Season on July 24th with Hello, Dolly!, a musical tour de force based on Thorton Wilder’s only comedy, The Matchmaker. Horace Vandergelder may not be a full-fledged tycoon with his half million dollars and prosperous Hay and Feed Store, but in the turn of the century world of Hello, Dolly! this penny-pinching curmudgeon is quite the catch. So, when he employs the renowned matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi to find him a wife, the recently widowed Dolly marks the half-millionaire for herself. As she tries to win him over, she simultaneously schemes to match up his two store clerks—who have slipped away from the Hay and Feed Store to enjoy a night on the town themselves—with the store owner whom Vandergelder thinks he is being set up to marry and her assistant. What ensues is a raucous farce featuring some of the best musical numbers ever performed on stage.

.

Hello, Dolly! premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on January 16, 1964 to enormous success, running for a record 2,844 performances. (It held the record for longest running musical until Fiddler on the Roof, another musical about matchmaking, took the title.) The original production featured Carol Channing as Dolly, Charles Nelson Reilly as Cornelius, and Eileen Brennan as Irene. The show won 10 Tony awards and was named best musical of the 1963-64 Broadway season by the New York Drama Critics Circle.  (Book by Michael Stewart and Music & Lyrics by Jerry Herman.)

 

Legendary song and dance man Gene Kelly brought Dolly and her band of clowns to the silver screen in 1969, with Barbra Streisand as the scheming matchmaker. Although honored numerous times for her portrayal of Dolly, studio executives did not think Carol Channing’s broad performance would translate effectively to film. Yet, some critics also found Streisand problematic in the role as well. Many felt the 27-year old actress was too young to play a middle-aged widow. Yet, her high energy and brilliant voice overcame these concerns. Other notable comedians and singers in the film version included Walter Matthau as Horace, Michael Crawford as Cornelius, Tommy Tune as Ambrose Kemper, and Louis Armstrong as the orchestra leader.

 

Hello, Dolly! is the culmination of a series of adaptations. Wilder based The Matchmaker, from which Hello, Dolly! is drawn, from a number of sources. The character of Dolly comes from Molière’s The Miser. Another influence was Johann Nestroy’s 1842 Einen Jux will er sich Machen, which itself was based on John Oxenham’s 1835 comedy A Day Well Spent. Wilder’s first attempt at this farce was called The Merchant of Yonkers, which failed miserably on Broadway in 1938. He returned to the script some years later, and produced The Matchmaker, which did find success.

 

Hello, Dolly! is directed by TWS casting director Jim McLean (Pride’s Crossing, 2002 and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,  2003). Jim agreed to sit down for an interview to share his thoughts on Hello, Dolly!, directing, and The Western Stage. See supplemental article for more.  Other technical credits include Diane Wigley, Choreography; Yvonne Crane, Musical Direction; David Parker, Scenic Design; Derek Duarte, Lighting Design; Kathrine Ogletree, Costume Design.

 

See supplemental article for interview with Jim McLean.   

 

The Western Stage continues its Pearl Jubilee in October with Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Molière’s Tartuffe, translated by Christopher Hampton. TWS’ holiday show Into the Woods concludes the season in December.

 

Dan Tarker, Literary Associate

 

Tickets for Hello, Dolly! are $25 for adults, $16 for seniors>65/juniors<25/military, and are available by calling The Western Stage Ticket Office at 831-755-6816 or visiting the website at westernstage.com.  Hello, Dolly!  plays Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm from July 24th- August 14, 2004.  Group rates are also available. Season tickets are still available for any four or all five remaining shows for as little as $48.  Due to campus construction, campus parking is recommended in the West Alisal Street lots between San Vincente & Amherst Drive.  Complete directions are online at westernstage.com.

 

Cast

 

Dolly Levi…Donna Federico
Horace Vandergelder….Bill Lindsay

Ambrose Kemper….Hugh Haiker

Ermengarde….Aaron Lichtanski

Cornelius Hackl…….Mike Baker

Mrs. Irene Molloy…..Dawn Flood

Barnaby Tucker….Adam J Saucedo

Minnie Fay….Kay Akervik

Ernestina…Reina Cruz Vazquez

Rudolph…..Ken Cusson

Judge…..Marc Grossman

Orchestra

 

Conductor…..Yvonne L Crane

Nancy Fowler….Reed I

Lisa Marie Barratta….Reed II

Kent Leatham….Reed III

Roberta Howe….Reed IV

Jack Godwin ….Trumpet I

Charles Old …Trumpet II

A.J. Wecker…..Trumpet III

Craig Whitwell…Trombone I

Audrey Christensen/Stan George…..Trombone II

Ian Shields…..Percussion

Plaman Velikov….Bass

Walt Veasey…..Piano

Rehearsal Accompanist…
Yvonne L Crane