STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: THEATRE - “Hello, Dolly!”
In a previous post about the Pixar film, WALL-E, it was the first Pixar animated film to use live action segments. One of which is Wall-e watching a movie which inspires him to fall in love and go out into space to rescue his love. This is that movie… sort of, since this is the actual stage show.
Directed by Jerry Zaks, book by Michael Stewart, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, and based on The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, Hello, Dolly! is about matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi who is responsible for setting up grumpy half-millionaire Horace Vandergelder but secretly she wants him for herself.
Working for Vandergelder at his shop in Yonkers, New York are Cornelius and Barnaby who disobey his orders and go to New York City so they themselves can find love.
The production of this show (I saw this in 2018) looks amazing, from the backdrops, the scene transitions, and the costumes. The comedy is very well-timed, and the emotional scenes, especially during the song sequences that are supposed to show the character’s inner thoughts and motivations, are just beautifully performed.
The story itself is innocent enough: finding love. Everyone is looking for it, though for Vandergelder, it’s absolutely for the wrong reasons, or at least politically incorrect in today’s time.
As you can tell, I HAVE personally seen this musical in New York no less. I knew nothing about the story or songs, save for two songs that are featured in WALL-E. However, I’m very familiar with the actors of the two main characters who I saw perform, both of whom was in the 1997 TV musical Cinderella.
Hello, Dolly! is an adorable story that reaches into the innocent side of us; we all want love, whether we’d like to admit it or not. It’s performed with such brightness and charm that it’s hard not to get sucked into its world and characters.
Put on your Sunday clothes, and check it out.
