“Hello, Dolly!” shines at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre
Being a matchmaker is a vastly underrated profession; setting people up to see if they like one another enough to start a relationship is no easy task, especially in bustling New York at the turn of the 20th century.
However, if you want to see a woman who essentially has her matchmaking profession down to a science, then look no further than the Chattanooga Theatre Centre’s production of “Hello, Dolly!”, which opens Friday night at 8 p.m.
“Hello, Dolly!” is a 1964 musical, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, and a book by Michael Stewart. The performance is based on Thornton Wilder’s 1955 farce, “The Matchmaker.”
“Hello, Dolly!” is currently receiving a revival performance run in New York City, and it’s definitely a hit; however, the original 1964 Broadway performance, directed by David Merrick, won multiple Tony awards, including Best Musical. “Hello, Dolly!” was also released as a film in 1969.
The performance follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, an independent and attractive young widow, and her trials and tribulations as a matchmaker in Yonkers, New York in the early 1900’s. She’s given the task of finding a match for Horace Vandergelder, the “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire.”
However, instead of finding a match for Horace, Dolly devises a plan in which she becomes Horace’s match, and in doing so, she convinces Horace’s niece, his niece’s intended, and Horace’s two clerks to travel to New York City with her. The Chattanooga Theatre Centre’s performance is directed by Scott Dunlap, and it features a cast of 10 principles and an ensemble of 18.
Theatre Centre favorite Beth McClary plays the role of Dolly. Dunlap explained that one of his goals as director of “Hello, Dolly!” is to capture the true farce nature of the performance and to show the audience just how humorous it’s meant to be.
“I actually got to see Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters play it on Broadway, and one of the things that shocked me about the play was the fact that it’s really funny. It’s a farce, so it’s broad and silly and just really comical,” explained Dunlap. “And I think that’s one of the things that the film [lacks], because it isn’t really a slapstick or it isn’t really funny, but it focuses more on being pretty. And the music is nice, but it doesn’t really go into how broad the play is.”
The cast started rehearsals in May, and Dunlap explained that it’s been an enjoyable process to watch the actors and actresses change and adapt to fit their roles. Dunlap said rehearsals are one of his favorite aspects of directing, and the cast for this show has been extremely dedicated to the rehearsal process.
“I hope the cast is surprised by how funny it is, and getting to do that has been a challenge in itself because you can be a funny person; there are funny people in real life, but that doesn’t always translate to creating a funny character or being funny on stage,” said Dunlap. “The timing of that, and being able to replicate it each time and be consistent, I find that to be fun.”
In addition to the rehearsal process, the crew has also been hard at work designing the set. Dunlap explained that the set itself is sort of bare bones, as the performance is set at the turn of the 20th century.
However, the set designers have been hard at work designing doors, staircases, and signage that accurately represent that time period.
“It seems weird when you have a show set in a period where you wouldn’t have that [modern] technology. We have different arches, and we have stairs. We’re creating a lot of signs,” said Dunlap. “A lot of the typography of the period is really big, so that’s sort of a motif, because a lot of the set locations are in different businesses.”
“That’s what we’re going for: more of the flavor of that time period. The big platforms that are out there, those will be stationary. But the stairs will move to line up in different ways with the platforms, to help indicate where we are in scene changes,” explained Dunlap.
In regards to the costumes for the show, the Theatre Centre is actually hand-making the costumes for the 10 principles, and they’re incorporating a lot of soft pastels, lavenders, pinks, and lemon yellows. However, for Dolly herself, there will be lots of bold, solid colors, like her orange and navy jumpsuit and her famous red dress, in order to help her stand out. The goal is to use the costumes in a scenic way to help tell the story.
“Hello, Dolly!” opens Friday night at 8 p.m., and will be performed over the course of four weekends until August 5, with both evening and Sunday matinee shows. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited.
“Hello, Dolly!” is guaranteed to be a comedic experience for everyone involved, so you definitely don’t want to miss an opportunity to see this classic being performed on stage in Chattanooga.