Doin' swell, 'Dolly'
By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to The Advertiser
Having recently turned 40, "Hello Dolly" has hit its prime as a tested vehicle that has featured just about every character actress who can carry a tune.
Director and choreographer John Rampage wraps it up in a neat musical package with Shari Lynn in the title role of matchmaker Dolly Levi.
'Hello Dolly'
The show looks elegant, with simple but detailed backdrops by set designer Willie Sabel and sumptuous turn-of-the-century costumes by Linda McCarthy, who seems to have cornered all the corsets and ostrich feathers in town.
Rampage turns the chorus into Yonkers townsfolk and dancing waiters who move with precision. Musical director Donald Yap gets excellent sound from the cast and orchestra.
But the centerpiece is Lynn, who delivers the role with the self-assurance of a comfortable visit from an old friend. She's a confident Dolly, devoid of the idiosyncratic character hiccups that colored her performance as Mama Rose in "Gypsy" at the Army Community Theatre earlier this season.
Dolly Levi is a different woman, equally strong, but riding a direct story line where there is no doubt that she will bag a half-a-millionaire for her second husband. This lets Lynn surf the role, rather than push it, and play the popular songs as musical set pieces instead of the emotionally ripping character studies that exposed the character of Mamma Rose.
Dolly is all zipped up and tidy and without a hint of a dark side, and easier to watch. Every song in the show is a good one, but Dolly has the barn-burners. Lynn delivers "So Long, Dearie," "Before the Parade Passes By" and "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" with brass-band energy, and turns the title song into the right emotional blend of nostalgia and personal fulfillment.
Dennis Proulx is more than satisfying as Horace Vandergelder, the crusty merchant for whom Dolly sets her traps. He brings a twinkle to "It Takes A Woman" and puts sufficient bounce into the role to make a proper romantic adversary.
Christopher Obenchain and Arthur Johansen are just right as Vandergelder's downtrodden head clerk Cornelius and his unsophisticated sidekick Barnaby. Obenchain's desperation for adventure and Johansen's gymnastic dance moves give the right boost to "Put on Your Sunday Clothes."
Katie Leiva is lovely and strong on "Ribbons Down My Back" as milliner Irene Molloy. She gives the role real presence.
Chesley Cannon and Kirsten Dixon are the desperate young lovers, Elizabeth Harrison is a frothy Minnie Fay, and Lisa Konove adds exaggerated visual fun as Ernestina, a blind date from the seamy side of the 19th century.
