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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewHello Dolly
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Marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she's a householder!— Dolly Gallagher Levi
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Samantha Spiro as Dolly with some of the dancing waiters (Photo: Nigel Norrington) |
It is Samantha Spiro's evening as the eponymous Dolly. She is full of warmth, she has an over the top personality and is as outstandingly bossy as the bustle on her skirt. Rather cruelly a passing helicopter tried to drown her opening lines in the big parade number but she recovered full voice quickly. Jerry Herman's musical isn't for realists, it's frankly escapism. The curved wooden set is like a wedding cake of tiers of wooden arched balconies, the top one housing the live orchestra. For the final number in the first act there are red white and blue rosettes strung on the balcony and tri-coloured flag banners unfurl the length and width of the stage for the march number "Before The Parade Passes By".
Now I must have seen the movie, if only in snatches on the television, but there were directorial touches, which may or may not be original that I really enjoyed. The men dance with canes which become hat stands in Irene Molloy's (Josefina Gabrielle) milliners and the women dancers remove their hats so as to provide the merchandise. There is a wonderful train formed out of a trolley, two round hat suitcases and a tall man in stove pipe hat which really smokes forming the chimney of the train. It's witty and great fun!
There are some fine performances. Akiya Henry's comic little doll of a shop girl is full of energy and cuteness while Josefina Gabrielle wins hearts as the milliner who falls for Mr Vandergelder's chief clerk Cornelius Hackl (Daniel Crossley). As he asks to put his arms around her, she says, "I might as well warn you, a corset is a corset!" Not a Liberty bodice then! (British undergarment of the 1890s with rubber buttons designed to liberate women from the tightly laced corset) We loved the scene when Cornelius and Barnaby Tucker (Oliver Brenin) are hiding from Mr Vandergelder in the hat shop and have to keep moving under different counters and behind curtains so as to escape detection. At the end of Act Two, formerly grumpy Mr Vandergelder's (Allan Cordunner) love song to Dolly is sentimental but very affecting, as he shows how bowled him over he is by her charm.
The troupe of dancing waiters at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant are the choreographic virtuoso highlight with a tap dance, spinning silver trays, high kicks and napkin waving brilliance. Dressed in red costumes with black spot buttons they look like six spot ladybirds and dance wonderfully. This production of Hello Dolly! is a real treat.
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| Hello Dolly!
Book by Michael Stewart Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman Based on the play the Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder Directed by Timothy Sheader Starring: Samantha Spiro, Allan Corduner, Josefina Gabrielle, Akiya Henry, Daniel Crossley With: Mark Anderson, Claire Louise Connolly, Oliver Brenin, Annalisa Rossi, Andy Hockley, John Stacey Ensemble: Marc Antolin, Rachael Archer, Kevin Brewis, Joanna Goodwin, Francis Haugen, Paul Iveson, Richard Jones, Stuart King, Jo Morris, Brenda Jane Newhouse, Sherrie Pennington, Carl Sanderson, Emily Shaw, Craig Turner Choreographer:Stephen Mear Design: Peter McKintosh Lighting: Simon Mills Musical Director: Phil Bateman Orchestrator: David Shrubsole Sound Designer: Mike Walker Running time: Two hours 20 minutes with one interval Box Office: 0844 826 4242 Booking to 12th September 2009 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 10th August 2009 performance at the Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, London NW1(Tube: Baker Street) |
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