Mary Bolt as Dolly Levi (photo by Leticia Alvarez)
I haven’t had so much fun in years! Here we were at Santa Catalina School on a Friday evening to see the opening night of a four-performance run of “Hello, Dolly!” I was expecting to see a typical high school production with amateurish sets, awkward backdrop changes, long pauses between scenes, occasional flubbed lines, and the whole production suffering by comparison to original cast and filmed versions.
This was not the case! Operating on a modest budget, Director Roger L. Thompson, combined a fine and enthusiastic young cast with a handful of musicians led by Barney Hulse to produce a show where everything came together to create a lively production where nothing was wasted – not one moment, not one scene. The snappy pace caused each scene to flow easily and naturally to the next.
Since we live a long distance from New York City, few of us ever have an opportunity to see original cast shows, and thus our experience with musicals is often limited to filmed productions. The screen version of “Hello Dolly” with Barbra Streisand and Walther Matthau lacked the fast pace of the original and had a duration of two and a half hours – so extended that it tends to be tedious to watch today. Thus, clocking in at an hour and 50 minutes, Director Thompson proved to be tremendously effective in marshaling his resources.
Of course much of the success of a production of “Hello, Dolly!” depends on the strength of the actress playing Dolly Gallagher Levi, and Mary Bolt carried this part superbly. As an actress, she caught the mood so perfectly of Dolly, the great meddling match maker, and she sang the role with impressive confidence and commanding authority. Horace Vandergelder, the clueless stooge of this drama, was adeptly played by Nicole Dovolis. The roles of Barnaby Tucker and Cornelius Hackl were performed by Alison Ruhnke and Kristina Flathers, who provided many moments of light comedy – their antics in the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant scene, as they frantically tried to figure out whether they could even afford a glass of water were priceless. Kristina Flathers exuded a raw energy and vitality that enlivened the whole production and her role was surprisingly important throughout the show.
Minnie Fay, played by Elle O’Brien, who had a squealing impulsive appeal, and Irene Malloy, played beautifully by Sarah Bellingham, added lots of charm to the budding romance with Barnaby and Cornelius. There were two actors we never saw, and they were Alison Minami and Courtney Paul who came on stage in two scenes concealed as the front and back ends of a horse, but they tickled our fancy as they trotted on and off stage.
The costumes and sets were terrific! Seeing Dolly making her entrance to the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in a fabulous red dress and matching hat was one of the great moments in the production. In fact, it was the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant scene that was the real show stopper of the evening. The choreography by Sherri Beck of the waiters dancing with Dolly was worthy of Bob Fosse or Jerome Robbins.
The sets in this production worked well to produce an1890s ambiance with colorful charm. I will always remember the sight of the train pulling off to the right as it departed the station with half the cast aboard. The Harmonia Gardens Restaurant set was a masterpiece and was assisted by lighting director Greg Johnson’s providing instant changes of lighting to focus our attention on various parts of the set.
If you have an opportunity to see this show, don’t miss it!
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