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Hello Dolly! by Moonlight Stage Productions  She’s always been a woman who arranges things, puts her hand
into things, meddles with things. All sorts of things – whatever you need (even
if you didn’t know you needed it). The best-known busybody and matchmaker of
all time, Mrs. Dolly Levi. And now the long-time widow is ready to make a match
for herself with the half-a-millionaire hay and feed store owner Mr. Horace
Vandergelder from Yonkers. But to do that she has to first accomplish two
tasks. First, derail the engagement she already set in motion between Horace
and New York City millinery (hat shop) owner Irene Malloy. Second, convince
Horace that the best match for him is herself.This classic musical set in turn-of-the-century New York features the hits Before the Parade Passes By, (We’ve Got) Elegance, It Only Takes a Moment, Put On Your Sunday Clothes, and, of course, its show-stopping title song. In addition to the strong musical score is a script filled with heartwarming humor. Both the "music" and "humor" aspects of the show are splendidly performed on the Moonlight Amphitheatre’s stage by a topnotch cast – the kind of cast always put together by magnificent director Lewis Wilkenfeld who has recently directed Welk shows Carousel, Show Boat, and Oklahoma. Returning to Moonlight after her Billie-winning performance as the Witch in Into the Woods is Debbie Prutsman as Dolly, Debbie’s strong voice, stage presence, and keen sense of comic timing resulting in another remarkable performance that had the whole audience buzzing. Her powerful rendition of Before the Parade Passes By ended the first act on just the right note. Veteran performer Paul Ainsley, who will leave right after the last show to kick off the national tour of 42nd Street, here regales us with terrific expressions of consternation, frustration, and exasperation (mostly the result of Dolly’s meddling), his style and even his looks gratefully reminiscent of that quintessential Horace Vandergelder – the great Walter Matthau. Then there is the remarkable quartet of younger lovers. Cornelius Hackl (John Bisom) is the 33-year-old chief clerk of Vandergelder’s Hay and Feed store who wants to take the day off and leave Yonkers for a big New York City adventure where he is determined to kiss a girl for the first time. Barnaby Tucker (Christopher S. Redding) is his young sidekick who thinks the girl kissing may be crazily optimistic, but the possibility of seeing a stuffed whale in Barnum’s museum is more than enough motivation to catch the train out of Yonkers. Their charming innocence, nervousness around women, and optimistic sense of adventure are all a delight -- that sense of adventure leading to the big Put On Your Sunday Clothes number where Cornelius, Barnaby, Dolly, Vandergelder’s daughter Ermengarde (Sarah Farrell), Ermengarde’s suitor Ambrose (Adam Lambert), and the ensemble shove off to New York City in exciting fanfare. Aided by the ever-helpful Dolly Levi, Cornelius and Barnaby find themselves the pretending-to-be-rich suitors of millinery assistant Minnie Fay (Kelly Felthous) and millinery owner Irene Molloy (Jennifer Shelton), the latter of who happens to be the woman that Dolly fixed up with Horace. Jennifer Shelton’s stunning voice and beauty offer a lovely rendition of Ribbons Down My Back in which she wistfully sings of her intention to attract the attentions of men with a provocative hat. Kelly Felthous is a hoot as Irene Molloy’s young, gossiping, talkative assistant who relishes the prospect of possible scandal – even if she’s in it. Katie Wilson won some of the biggest laughs of the evening with her hilarious portrayal of Ernestina – a friend of Dolly and supposed “heiress” who is presumed to be interested in Vandergelder. Of course, her real job is just to annoy Vandergelder to no end, which Katie does with an hysterically obnoxious voice and amusingly unmannerly manners. And the ensemble cast was fantastic, with the biggest audience response earned by the dancing waiters of the Harmonia Gardens restaurant who serve dinner with unbelievable speed, agility, and flair led by Head Waiter Rudolph (Theodore Leib). Choreographer K. C. Gussler struck gold with that Waiter’s Gallop, the Hello Dolly scene, as well as Put On Your Sunday Clothes and Dancing which both featured the entire elegant ensemble dancing with a combination of grace and athleticism. Director Wilkenfeld and his team could have had a lot
more fun with the (We’ve Got) Elegance scene to open the second act, wherein
the four younger lovers save their money by doing what all the really “elegant”
people now do and WALK to the restaurant rather than taking a cab (incidentally
saving a bit of money, too), although it did have a great ending as they
finally reach the restaurant in a state of pure exhaustion. But I’m nitpicking,
as practically every other scene, including by far the most humorous It Only
Takes a Moment courtroom scene I’ve seen, demonstrated a masterful touch and attention
to detail that in the end brought the thrilled audience to a standing ovation.
The rest of Moonlight’s season includes Dames at Sea, Footloose, and the highly
anticipated San Diego County debut of Ragtime.
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