Hello, Dolly! (musical)
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- This article is about the stage musical. For the film version, see Hello, Dolly!.
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce, The Merchant of Yonkers, about a widowed matchmaker who has designs on her client, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. Hello, Dolly! was produced by David Merrick and has become one of the most enduring musical hits, enjoying three Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into a 1969 film directed by Gene Kelly and starring Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau.
The original Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, opened to rave reviews on January 16, 1964 at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 2,844 performances. The cast included Carol Channing as Dolly, David Burns as Horace, Charles Nelson Reilly as Cornelius, Eileen Brennan as Irene, Jerry Dodge as Barnaby, Sondra Lee as Minnie Fay, Alice Playten as Ermengarde, and Igors Gavon as Ambrose, with a cameo by Louis Armstrong in his last film role. Although facing stiff competition from Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand, Hello, Dolly! swept the Tony Awards that season, winning awards in ten categories (out of eleven nominations), a record that remained unbroken for 37 years until The Producers won twelve Tonys in 2001.
After Channing left the production, Merrick kept the show playing to capacity houses by casting big name stars in the title role, including Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey (in an all-black version with Cab Calloway), Dorothy Lamour, Ethel Merman — for whom Herman originally wrote the show (two songs cut prior to the opening - typical Mermanesque "belters" entitled "World, Take Me Back" and "Love, Look in My Window" - were restored for her run) - and even Phyllis Diller.
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[edit] Background and subsequent productions
The plot of Hello, Dolly! originated in Einen Jux will er sich machen, an 1842 play by Austrian Johann Nestroy, which was itself based on an 1835 English play, A Day Well Spent. Wilder adapted Nestroy's play into his 1938 farcical play, The Merchant of Yonkers, a flop, which he revised, expanding the role of Dolly, and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. This became a hit and was made into a 1958 film of the same name starring Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, and Robert Morse. Hello, Dolly! was originally entitled Dolly: A Damned Exasperating Woman, until Merrick heard Armstrong's recording of the song and changed the name of the show.
Hello, Dolly! was revived three times on Broadway, including another all-black production (with Bailey and Billy Daniels) in 1975 (42 performances), and two with Channing, the first in 1978 (147 performances), the second in 1995 (116 performances).
The musical has also enjoyed international success. Mary Martin played Dolly in the West End production of Hello, Dolly!, as well as in Japan and Vietnam for a special U.S.O. performance for U.S. troops. The original German production of Hello, Dolly!, with the title character's surname "Wassiljewa" (Vasilyeva) rather than "Levi," starred Tatjana Iwanow (Tatyana Ivanov). In 1996, Mexican diva Silvia Pinal starred in the Spanish language version of the musical ¿Qué tal Dolly? ("What's Up, Dolly?") opposite Ignacio Lopez Tarso in Mexico City.[citation needed]
[edit] Synopsis
Widowed but brassy matchmaker, Dolly Gallagher, Levi travels to Yonkers, New York to visit her client, grumpy Horace Vandergelder, a prominent citizen and wealthy bachelor in need of a wife to tend to himself and his home. As a widow in the 1890s, Dolly has to work, and she has sidelines as a dance and mandolin instructor, among her other talents. While at his store, she convinces Vandergelder – and his two stock clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, his niece Ermengarde, and her beau Ambrose Kemper – to go to New York City. Dolly, has decided to nab Vandergelder for herself "before the parade passes by"; and she knows what to do with all his money: "Money is like manure," she theorizes. "It's not worth a thing unless it's spread about, encouraging young things to grow."
Dolly arranges a match between the two clerks and the woman Vandergelder had been courting, a bored milliner named Irene Molloy, and her perky shop assistant, Minnie Fay. The clerks have no money, but they convince the girls that they've "got elegance". A web of complicated romantic entanglements ensues, culminating in a free-for-all at the swanky Harmonia Gardens (where Dolly makes a triumphant return) and a trip to night court. As the final curtain falls, each character is matched with his ideal partner.
[edit] Song list
Act I
- I Put My Hand In
- It Takes A Woman
- Put On Your Sunday Clothes
- Ribbons Down My Back
- Motherhood
- Dancing
- Before the Parade Passes By
Act II
- Elegance
- The Waiter's Gallop
- Hello, Dolly!
- Come and Be My Butterfly (replaced by The Polka Contest very early in the run)
- It Only Takes a Moment
- So Long, Dearie
- Hello, Dolly! (Reprise)
- Finale
[edit] Broadway awards and nominations
- 1964 Tony Award Best Musical (winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Composer and Lyricist (Jerry Herman, winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Actress in a Musical (Carol Channing, winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Charles Nelson Reilly, nominee)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Scenic Design (winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Costume Design (Freddy Wittop, winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Choreography (winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Direction of a Musical (winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Conductor and Musical Director (winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Producer of a Musical (winner)
- 1964 Tony Award Best Author of a Musical (winner)
- 1970 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance (Ethel Merman, winner)
- 1978 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical (Eddie Bracken, nominee)
- 1996 Tony Award Best Revival of a Musical (nominee)
[edit] Cultural Influence
- In 1964, Armstrong's recording of the song, "Hello, Dolly!", rose to #1 on the pop chart, making Armstrong, at age 63, the oldest person to ever accomplish that feat. In the process, Armstrong dislodged The Beatles from the #1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs.
- A French recording by Petula Clark charted in the Top Ten in both Canada and France, and her Spanish version, "¿Qué tal Dolly?", was a hit as well.
- The title song was sung in the 1999 film Dick by actor Dan Hedaya, playing President Richard Nixon.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Jerry Herman musicals |
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| From A to Z • Milk and Honey • Hello, Dolly! • Mame • Dear World • Mack and Mabel • The Grand Tour • La Cage aux Folles • Mrs. Santa Claus • Showtune • Jerry's Girls |
