By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO— Classic musical Hello Dolly at San Diego Musical Theater is a joyful celebration of dance and song. It will make you want to get up and dance and hum along.
For those who have never seen the 1969 movie starring Barbara Streisand, Dolly Gallagher Levi (Heidi Meyer) is a socialite turned matchmaker and Jill of all trades. But this time she has a special match she wants to make, and that is herself to “half-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder (A.G. Parks). Of course, she can’t just come out and say so, so she has to manipulate the circumstances to hilarious effect. Chaos ensues.
Set in 1890’s New York, the show gently touches on the suffragette movement and the duties and sensibilities of women.
I must commend director Randy Slovacek and choreographer Xavier J Bush. The dancing was phenomenal, engaging and entertaining. Those dancers can leap!
The pacing of the play was perfect, moving along quickly and keeping the audience captivated throughout. There were several scenes that used freeze frame and long comic pauses to great effect. For example, in the court scene, after a restaurant full of people have been arrested, they are waiting for Dolly, now wearing her “lawyer” hat, to speak up on their behalf, and we watch as she finishes a basket of bread. For several minutes she calmly eats the bread as the tension builds and all the other actors are completely silent. It was a moment that could have ruined the flow but instead played beautifully.
The set was both minimal and ingenious, making good use of sliding walls and a drop down mural. The company actors skillfully move the set pieces on and off stage as part of the dance numbers.
Meyer was born to play the role. Other shout-outs go to Parks, Adam Granados as Cornelius Hackl, Jackson Taitano as Barnaby Tucker, and Katherine Chapman as Irene Malloy.
One of the things I really love about San Diego Musical Theater is that the creative teams always bring out the fun in their shows. Though it’s a small venue, they do the most with what they have and they consistently pick good musicals that leave you with a smile on your face. The show runs through March 9, so there’s plenty of time to check it out.
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Sandi Masori is a theater and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World