In a perfect world, any actress portraying Dolly Gallagher Levi has her audience at “Hello.”
But live professional musical theater isn’t a perfect world.
Thankfully for Drury Lane Theatre and Tony winnerKaren Ziemba, in Chicagoland at least, this world is a neighborhood—a community of respect for the houses, creative teams and entertainers consistently delivering Broadway quality productions. Drury Lane’s reputation, Director Rachel Rockwell’s status and Ziemba’s pedigree earn them such deference.
That’s why it’s a good bet their production of the classic “Hello Dolly” will find the stride it lacked on opening night and prove to be a crowd-pleasing favorite through the holidays.
“Dolly” is the 1964 musical based on Thornton Wilder’s 1955 play “The Matchmaker,” featuring music and lyrics by Jerry Herman (“Mame,” “Parade” and “Mack and Mabel,” among others). It won 10 Tony’s, including Best Musical and Best Actress (Carol Channing) while running for nearly 3,000 performances before closing in 1970.
The comedy centers on the antics of a matchmaking widow in early 1900s New York. It includes lovely elements of the musical theater canon, “Before the Parade Passes By,” “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment,” as well as the title song. A full synopsis of the show can be found here.
Despite its overall not-ready-for-prime-time opening, highlights in this production abound. Most noticeably, Emily Rohm’s Irene Malloy is exquisite. Her pairing with Maggie Portman illustrates Rockwell’s impeccable casting, along with the Cornelius Hackl/Barnaby Tucker duo of Jeff Dieboldand Lee Slobotkin. These four young actors are production high points, and Rohm’s “Ribbons Down Your Back” earns her a lead in Rockwell’s next show.
The Harmonia Gardens dancing waiters in the second act need to be showstoppers in “Hello Dolly”‘s signature number, and Drury’s red-jacket-clad ensemble delivers. While their gymnastics sometimes renders them far-fetched as wait staff, they are tremendously entertaining in showing off Rockwell’s high-end choreography while providing the needed visual oasis in what could otherwise be a desert of dialogue.
Kudos, too, to Kevin Depinet’s luxuriously simple set design featuring cameo-esque post cards from long ago and silhouettes that combine to provide a backdrop of elegance to the goings on in Yonkers and New York City.
Drury’s typically high end costumes, lighting and sound do not disappoint. They guarantee every performance staged in its beautiful theater, among the loveliest of all Chicago area venues, is done with professional grace.
All said, this production’s four-time Tony-nominated leading lady likely left opening night questioning her decision to spend the fall in Chicago’s suburbs. Here’s hoping the questioning ends through the performances and audience reactions from then until January, and she’ll come to see that Chicagoland’s musical theater world is really a neighborhood of friends.
Because while old theater adage says a bad dress rehearsal leads to a successful opening night, in the case of Drury Lane’s “Hello Dolly,” it’s a fair guess Ziemba and cast were likely just a day behind.
“Hello Dolly” runs through January 5, 2014 at the Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, less than a 1-hour drive from all North Shore suburbs. Parking is complimentary. Information and tickets ($35-$49 with additional dinner packages and senior and student discounts for some shows) are available online at drurylane.com or by phone, 630-530-0111.
Barry Reszel is a Libertyville-based writer, at-home dad and executive director of the not-for-profit entertainment company Liberty Town Productions.
