By Amanda VanNostrand.
Travel back in time to 1885 New York City and experience the fun and romance of Hello Dolly! This four-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical Revival is at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music for a whopping two-week showing until March 1st, and all who are able should purchase tickets, “Before the Parade Passes By”. This production of Hello Dolly! is sensational, and should not be missed by any lover of superb entertainment.
Hello Dolly! is the story of recently widowed Dolly Gallagher Levi, a meddler (matchmaker) among various additional occupations, who is seeking a partner for the wealthy half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder. As Vandergelder travels from his shop in Yonkers, New York, to New York City to visit and possibly propose to Irene Molloy, a widow with a hat shop, Dolly herself plans to marry him despite her “attempts” to partner him with Molloy. While their shenanigans occur, Vandergelder’s assistants from Yonkers decide they need some adventure and travel to New York City without their boss’s knowledge. As stories go, they inevitably run into their unknowing boss, and maneuver love and hiding, pretending to be who they are not in order to achieve some kissing action. These stories intertwine among showtunes and dancing, tying around ribbons of quirks and comedy.
The quality of this production of Hello Dolly! is awe-inspiring. Everything, and everyone, is pristine. From the opening image of old-time New York, portrayed in colors bordering in pastel and resembling classic children’s book illustrations on an opaque screen lit just enough to view silhouettes of women and men walking the streets in their 1880s clothing – to the costumes depicting this clothing in such a way that each ensemble ‘pops’ out and fits perfectly with these beautiful backdrops – all the way to the talent performing within and amongst the impressive stage features – inspires the audience from beginning to end. Each scene contains so much intentional movement while featuring formations and images that are simply pleasing to the eye that the audience will struggle to look away even at all. Hello Dolly! captivates through and through.
Most shows hold the main actors on a pedestal, reserving the smaller roles for the background to accentuate what the leads have to offer. This production of Hello Dolly!, however, would clearly not be such a success without its group of dancers to play the parts of Townspeople, Waiters, etc. And although Carolee Carmello (playing the part of Dolly Gallagher Levi) is fantastic in her role and Chelsea Cree Groen (playing the part of Minnie Fay) captures the audience’s hearts with her charm, while Daniel Beeman and Sean Burns (playing the parts of assistants Cornelius and Barnaby) bring hysterical, slightly stupid humor to their characters, the Townspeople, Waiters, etc. bring so much talent as to rival their actor counterparts in just about every scene. Much of the performances are done through singing and dancing, and the dancing is striking. With Ian Liberto as Dance Captain and David Chase in charge of Dance Arrangements, their roles are clearly held by the right people because the choreography and technique on the stage throughout the entirety of the show is beyond beautiful. Of note is Brandon L. Whitmore, whose solo round of fuerte turns bring about more than one round of applause from the audience. This cast really brings it.
Hello Dolly! is a timeless story, and can’t come recommended highly enough. It Only Takes a Moment – book those tickets; you will be glad you did.