Hello, Dolly!

Hello, Dolly! (1964), a musical comedy by Michael Stewart (book), Jerry Herman (music, lyrics). [ St. James Theatre, 2,844 perf.; Tony, NYDCC Awards.] Matchmaker Dolly Levi (Carol Channing) will jump in wherever there is a quick buck to be made. As she puts it, “I meddle.” Her meddling becomes self‐serving when she sets about to find a mate for Yonkers businessman Horace Vandergelder (David Burns). She sug‐gests two possible candidates, the milliner Irene Molloy (Eileen Brennan) and the wealthy Ernestina Money (Mary Jo Catlett), but all along she plans to grab Horace for herself. After a day of adventure in New York involving Vandergelder's clerks Barnaby (Jerry Dodge) and Cornelius (Charles Nelson Reilly) and his niece (Alice Playten), all complications lead to romance and marriage. Notable songs: Hello, Dolly!; Before the Parade Passes By; It Only Takes a Moment; Put On Your Sunday Clothes; So Long, Dearie. Based on The Matchmaker, the musical almost certainly would have enjoyed a reasonable run on the strength of Miss Channing's clowning and Gower Champion's stylish staging alone. The popularity of the title song and a succession of star Dollys (including Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey, and Ethel Merman) immeasurably enhanced the musical's success, helping the David Merrick production become (temporarily) the longest‐running musical in Broadway history. The show was revived on Broadway with Channing in 1978 and 1995.