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October 2004
Synopsis of Hello Dolly
Music & Lyrics: Jerry Herman
Book: Michael Stewart
Based on The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, Hello Dolly tells the
story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a matchmaker who
has been hired to arrange a marriage for the widowed half-millionaire
Horace Vandergelder. Dolly, however, has other plans. She has herself
been recently widowed and come to the conclusion that Horace and his
fortune will make her the perfect mate. When she arrives in Yonkers, she
immediately begins to plant seeds of doubt in Vandergelder's mind about
Irene Molloy, the pretty young widow she has picked out for him.
Meanwhile, down in the bowels of Vandergelder's Hay and Feed Store, two
of his employees are plotting to take advantage of the boss' absence.
Cornelius and Barnaby have decided to sneak off for their first ever
peek at the big city. They want to experience everything - maybe even
kiss a girl! Once they make their escape, however, they have the
misfortune of spotting Vandergelder on the street. Attempting to escape
unnoticed, they slip into Irene Molloy's hat shop, the very place
Vandergelder has arranged to meet with Mrs. Molloy.
Dolly and Irene attempt to hide the boys from Vandergelder who, much to
Dolly's delight, quickly comes to the conclusion that his intended
fiancée is hiding a roomful of strange men. Vandergelder storms out
indignantly, announcing his intention to meet instead with the
extraordinarily wealthy Ernestina Money. This suits everyone just fine,
for Cornelius has found himself smitten by Irene, and Irene, for her
part, has already admitted to her assistant, Minnie Fay, that she was
about to accept Vandergelder's proposal only to escape from the
drudgeries of her little hat shop.
Dolly quickly sizes up the situation and suggests that the boys take
Irene and Minnie Fay to dinner at the fashionable Harmonia Gardens to
make amends for ruining the meeting with Vandergelder.
Although Cornelius and Barnaby cannot afford such an expensive dinner,
they soon find themselves standing in front of the Harmonia Gardens, two
beautiful women on their arms and no idea how they will pay the bill.
When Vandergelder shows up at the same restaurant searching for the
mysterious Ernestina, mayhem erupts, and by the time the confusion is
over, everything may just have worked itself out - even if it isn't the
way one might have expected when the evening began!
Hello, Dolly! opened at the St. James Theatre on January 16, 1964 with a
cast that featured Carol Channing (Dolly), David Burns (Horace), Charles
Nelson Reilly (Cornelius), Jerry Dodge (Barnaby), Eileen Brennan
(Irene), and Sondra Lee (Minnie Fay). The show ran for 2,844
performances and briefly held the record for the longest-running
Broadway production before it was overtaken by Fiddler on the Roof.
During the Broadway run, Ms. Channing was succeeded by Ginger Rogers,
Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Bibi Osterwald, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller,
and Ethel Merman (who had originally turned down the role.) The 1969
film version featured Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau.
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