On
June 20. 2016 I went with a group to see “Hello Dolly!” at the California Music
Theatre in Sacramento. ” This is a classic musical that I had never seen so I
was glad to sign up. I knew it was about a character named Widow Dolly Levi,
matchmaker who set her cap at Horace Vandergelder, with Music & Lyrics by
Broadway legend Jerry Herman and choreography by Gower Chapman. Carol Channing
had played “Dolly” in the original Broadway production in 1964 and Barbra
Streisand in the 1969 movie.
Many recorded the title song including Sinatra,
Bobby Darin and jazz musician Louis Armstrong. There is a funny story attached
to the Armstrong recording. In 1964, his agent persuaded him to make some
recordings of show songs. About three or
four months later while they were playing their usual jazz numbers in Nebraska,
the audience called out for “Hello Dolly!" Without him knowing it, the recording
had become a great hit on the radio and jukeboxes and he had completely
forgotten he had recorded it and had to send for the music. They put the number
in the act, with Louis playing the 32 bar trumpet solo and singing the chorus.
The first night they played it, pandemonium broke out and his recording became
the No.1 Song in the United States for several weeks. This had never happened
to a jazz musician before and in 2001, his version was inducted in the Grammy
Hall of Fame.
Anyway, back to
“Hello Dolly!” in Sacramento. The thing that struck me was the excellence of
the orchestra conducted by Craig Barra who has been with the Music Circus for
almost thirty years. They were so sharp and bright so I felt we were in for a
good show.
I was pleased and
delighted to see there was more than just Dolly Levi (Lynne Wintersteller) and
her antics in this show. The romantic leads were actually a middle-aged couple
Cornelius Hackl (John Scherer) in love with Irene Molloy (Jacquelyn Piro
Donovan)and he gets to sing the beautiful “It Only Takes a Moment” to his love.
Above everything
else, the dancing captured my attention. In the second act, we get to see the
classic “Hello Dolly!” number set in the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant. Rudolph
(John B. Williford) and the six waiters entertain us with “The Waiters’
Gallop.” Cheers to the costume designer for their outfits: the combination of
white spats, apron and shirts with black shoes and pants highlighted with red
bow tie and waistcoats and their magnificent dancing were the highlights of the
show for me. Dolly Levi enters the restaurant and the theatre explodes as she
greets each of the waiters.
A lovely uplifting
afternoon!
