GOOD GOLLY, MISS DOLLY!
Under Randy Slovacek’s direction for San Diego Musical Theatre, Hello, Dolly! festoons the theater with a cumulatively enchanting restoration of this infectious delight. So much that life fails to encourage, theater redeems—seldom more winningly than in Hello, Dolly!
Charismatic matchmaker Dolly Levi (Heidi Meyer) arrives in Yonkers in the late 1800s, hired by the wealthy but grumpy merchant Horace Vandergelder (A.G. Parks) to find him a wife. Secretly, the widowed Dolly plans to marry him herself. Meanwhile, Vandergelder’s naïve and overworked clerks, Cornelius and Barnaby (Adam Granados and Jackson Taitano), rebel against their dull lives and head to New York City for adventure and love—though neither has ever kissed a girl before. In Manhattan, they befriend hat shop owner Irene Molloy (Katherine Chapman) and her assistant Minnie (Johnisa Breault). Vandergelder also comes to New York intending to marry Irene, but Dolly has other plans for the man and is determined to outwit him to land the prize, one who is very much a diamond in the rough.
Michael Steward’s book of Hello, Dolly!—based on Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker—delights because Dolly is a master manipulator, orchestrating romantic entanglements and creating comedic chaos in the process. Dolly and Horace couldn’t be more different, yet their interactions are charming. On top of all that, we get Jerry Herman’s memorable tunes and lyrics, with such sweet offerings as “It Takes a Woman,” “It Only Takes a Moment,” and, of course, the classic title tune.
Ms. Meyer is terrific in the main role, charming and funny with a voice that is more Julie Andrews than Carol Channing. Ms. Chapman has a beautiful, operatic voice as Irene that positively fills the theater in “Ribbons Down My Back.” Jackson Taitano gets big laughs, bringing a clownlike presence to Barnaby. While not as grouchy as Walter Matthau in the 1969 film version, Mr. Parks brings a wonderful gruffness to Vandergelder that is no less enjoyable. Sasha Weiss makes the most of a rather small role, getting big laughs as the lovably, trashy Ernestina, a friend of Dolly’s used to exasperate Horace.
Beyond the wonderful performances, the spectacle here is the dancing, which has been SDMT’s trademark for years. Xavier J. Bush’s choreography is a delightfully frenetic whirlwind of spins and pratfalls, with so much power-jumping that I developed sympathetic shin splints from my seat. More than just the sheer athletic ability of it all, it’s the gamut of clever choices that inspired. At times, it was hard to even know what to look at—a nice problem to have. All the moves were greatly accentuated by an endless color palette of costuming by Chong Mi Land.
There’s a reason this show took the Tony for Best Musical in 1964 and why it’s revived over and over for sixty years; it’s feel-good from beginning to end. San Diego Musical Theatre took that baton and ran with it, to great satisfaction.
photos by Rich Soublet
Hello Dolly
San Diego Musical Theatre
4650 Mercury Street in San Diego
Thurs and Fri at 7; Sat at 2 and 7; Sun at 2
ends on March 9, 2025
for tickets ($37.50-$75.00), call 858.560.5740 or visit SDMT
