Hello, Dolly!

I love going to the theater. As a teenager, I was enamored with the high school version of Les Miserables. I listened to the Broadway version of Les Miserables so many times I had entire songs memorized. My parents and sister put up with playing the tape version for me in the car. I would sit in my room at home and knit scarves and squares to the musical. I was completely obsessed.

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As an adult, I’ve had the privilege of seeing more plays and musicals. Hello, Dolly is one of them.

This was another amazing musical. Set in 1885, the clothes were phenomenal, a rainbow of traditional clothing: bright blues, pinks, yellows, and purples. The clothes were part of what made the set so magnificent. There was a horse pulling the trolley, and a large steam train that took Dolly and Ambrose Kemper to New York.

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The lead actress, the famed Betty Buckley, plays Dolly. She blew me away as she sang, danced, and charmed her way around the stage. Buckley was the focal point of the show, and she owned the stage wherever she stood. When she entered the Harmonia Gardens in her fabulous red dress, the waiters and staff rushed to greet her. Dolly isn’t just a matchmaker, she’s a woman of all trades, a woman who is charming, smart, and respected in her community. Her smarts, humor, and wit is how she thinks on her feet. She is graceful, thoughtful, and funny. Buckley embodies all of these things throughout the musical. She is simply stunning as Dolly Levi.

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My parents, aunt, and I laughed and applauded our way through this wonderful musical. I was so glad I was able to see it!