‘Hello, Dolly!’ – Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman; Book by Michael Stewart; Based on “The Matchmaker” by Thornton Wilder; Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent; Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez; Choreography by Ilyse Robbins; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Kelly Baker; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Sound Design by Alex Berg. Presented by Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St., Boston, through June 22nd.
By Mike Hoban
In a world that seems to add a new layer of black clouds with each 24-hour news cycle, the Lyric Stage has gifted theatergoers with a joyous revival of the Jerry Herman-Michael Stewart Broadway classic Hello Dolly! The production, directed with panache by Maurice Emmanuel Parent, is essentially the theatrical equivalent of a blast of nitrous oxide – delivering laughter and euphoria in large doses. In a show usually defined by the star power of its leading lady, Aimee Doherty (as Dolly) seizes the role and makes it her own in an endearing performance that ranks up there with any of her multiple Norton and IRNE Award-winning musical theater performances. And she is well-supported by a cast of ringers and talented (relative) newcomers.
The book for the show is fairly standard 1950s musical theater, designed more to set up the sitcom-style jokes and the wonderful musical performances than create a plausible story line. Set just before the turn of the 20th Century, Hello Dolly! tells the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a charismatic widowed matchmaker/meddler/entrepreneur, who is tired of the hustle and decides to make a match for herself. She sets her sights on Horace Vandergelder (a steely Joshua Wolf Coleman), the crusty “half-a-millionaire” and widower who is in the market for a wife and has contracted with Dolly to make that happen. What the two have in common is that neither is seeking love. Dolly wants to secure her future, and Horace is looking for a servant/concubine, as he makes clear in the entertaining but wildly sexist, “It Takes a Woman,” where he sings, “It takes a woman all powdered and pink/To joyously clean out the drain in the sink.”
While Dolly and Horace may have underlying motives in their romantic pursuits, sincere love stories abound in Hello Dolly! Horace’s clerks, Cornelius (a marvelous Michael Jennings Mahoney) and Barnaby (Max Connor), embark on an adventure to New York and become smitten with shop owner Irene Molloy (a luminous Kristian Espiritu) and her assistant, Minnie Fay (Temma Beaudreau). And Horace’s niece (Sophie Shaw) and her artist beau (Stephen Caliskan) want to marry, but over Horace’s objections. Dolly, too, is in love, but it’s with her deceased husband (with whom she still converses daily), but decides she wants to move on with her life in the beautiful American Songbook standard, “Before the Parade Passes By.”
Director Parent resists the temptation to update the book, and the cast wholeheartedly commits to the dated material. In addition to the show’s principal players (Doherty, Coleman, Espiritu, and Mahoney), Parent has stacked the ensemble with traditional lead performers like Jackson Jirard (Ain’t Misbehavin’), Joy Clark (Sweeney Todd, Drowsy Chaperone), and Mark Linehan (too many musical leads to name and now emerging as one of Boston’s funniest comic actors) to augment the younger players. Their enthusiasm and talent – coupled with Robbins’ adventurous choreography – pay huge dividends. Parent, one of Boston’s most riveting dramatic actors, has emerged as one of Boston’s most imaginative musical directors, and his light touch with the almost campy Hello Dolly! works spectacularly.
Robbins takes full advantage of the dancing talents of Girard and the rest of the ensemble (Miki Grubic, Sean Kiem, Alex LeBlanc, Hannah Shihdanian, and Tader Shipley) to produce some awe-inspiring dance numbers (including some ballet-infused pieces), and the choreography alone is worth the price of admission. Robbins and Parent previously collaborated on the choreography for Ain’t Misbehavin’ (which Parent also directed), which earned the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Production in 2023. Hats off, too, to music director Dan Rodriguez. The rich harmonies in the ensemble musical numbers, including the title tune, are an aural treat in the intimate confines of the Lyric, and during more than one number, I thought I was listening to a recording from an MGM musical. Kelly Baker’s period costumes, particularly the women’s gowns, are a delight.
At the center of this excellent production, however, is Doherty, who triumphantly returns to this splashier brand of musical after expanding her repertoire with a string of impressive dramatic performances in recent years. The role of Dolly requires genuine star power, and Doherty’s sumptuous mezzo and trademark wit are a natural fit. Parent, Robbins, Doherty, and the cast and crew have created a production of boundless joy – something that we could all use a dose of right now. See it. For information and tickets, go to: https://www.lyricstage.com/show-item/hello-dolly/
