Review – Hello, Dolly! 2008

“Dolly looking swell, thanks to VOS”

Published: May 5, 2008

Of late, the Victoria Operatic Society has significantly stepped up its game. Gold-star productions include Crazy for You, Sweeney Todd and Beauty and the Beast.

Now, the VOS can add Hello, Dolly! to the list. The community troupe has just opened an enjoyable, sharp and lively production of this chestnut, which scooped up buckets of Tony awards way back in 1964. This revival succeeds on most counts. It is well rehearsed and the singing is strong – as are all performers in key lead roles. And the production values are first-rate, easily achieving a professional standard.

The plot of Hello, Dolly! is slight – even by the standards of golden-age American musicals. Set in a sepia-toned yesteryear, the story pivots around Dolly (can anyone utter the name without thinking of Carol Channing?), a professional match-maker. As well as employing her ultra-developed schadchen skills on half the town, Dolly Levi launches a covert operation to snag the town’s most prosperous merchant for herself. And, in an ongoing schtick that could only have been hatched in the 1960s, she periodically asks for dead hubby Ephraim’s blessing. Oy vey, indeed.

Filling Channing’s shoes (also occupied by such larger-than-life icons as Martha Raye, Phyllis Diller and Ethel Merman) is a daunting task. The VOS did well in casting Sarah Carlé. A graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts, Carlé easily captured Dolly’s gargantuan brio on Saturday night with an admirably confident, sometimes brash performance. Borrowing a three-ton Queens accent a la Fran Drescher, Carlé belted out the biggies (It Takes a Woman, Before the Parade Passes By, and of course, Hello Dolly) with clarity and power, sometimes dipping into a ballsy growl.

As Irene Molloy, a widowed milliner, Francesca Bitonti sings at least as well – earning cheers for Ribbons Down My Back. True, she’s a touch mature to be cast as the love interest of fresh-faced young Jeremy Hewitt (Cornelius the store clerk), however, one can see how she won the part. The other key roles, Horace Vandergelder the wealthy businessman, was cleverly acted and sung by Chris Moss. This VOS veteran can always be relied upon for a solid, professional-level performance.

In a new twist for the organization, the VOS is trying out a revolve stage. The experiment is a big success. Although the revolve spins via man-power rather than mechanically, it works tremendously well, with scene changes happening in a fluid fashion. Each set looks wonderful, especially the go-for-broke recreation of a fancy restaurant, complete with lavish, red-carpeted staircase and matching booths. This is a credit to designed John Britt and the production team.

Costume designer David Hardwick is a designer who can be counted out for excellence. Once again, he does not disappoint. The women’s costumes are particularly spectacular – late 19th-century dresses are interpreted in crayon-box yellows, greens and blues, complete with boas, feathers and whimsical bonnets.

The pit orchestra, conducted by Rick Underwood, is peppered with local ringers. One or two entrances were sloppier than they should have been, yet overall, the playing achieved a good standard. Rick Simmond’s choreography is simple yet effective - it’s so much preferable to set a moderate challenge and achieve it (as this cast does) than shoot for the moon and come up short.