Hello, Dolly! at HCT

Last night I saw the most charming and delightful production of Hello, Dolly! that I have ever seen! I loved everything about this show at HCT and I had a giant smile on my face from beginning to end! At the turn of the century, the irascible Horace Vandergelder (Brian Neal Clark) wants to get married again so that he will have someone to do all of the chores at his Hay & Feed store in Yonkers, New York. His niece Ermengarde (Rachel Bigler) wants to marry an artist named Ambrose Kemper (Dale Hoopes) but her uncle objects because he doesn't have a steady income. His clerk Cornelius Hackl (Landon Horton) is longing for an adventure in New York City so he convinces his fellow clerk Barnaby Tucker (Justin Gibbs) to come along with him and they vow not to return to Yonkers until they have both kissed a girl. They soon meet Irene Molloy (Shae Robins), who owns a millinery shop in NYC but wants a rich husband to take her away because she hates hats, and her assistant Minnie Fay (Amanda Baugh). A recently widowed matchmaker named Dolly Levi (Mack) is hired to find a wife for Vandergelder but she decides that she wants to marry himself. She just needs to convince him! She eventually arranges for all of the couples to meet for a memorable evening at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in NYC and merriment ensues! The choreography in this show is incredible and the big song and dance numbers, including "I Put My Hand In," "Put on Your Sunday Clothes," "Dancing," "Before the Parade Passes By," "Waiters' Gallop," and "Hello, Dolly," are exuberant and dynamic and feature a large and incredibly talented ensemble. I really enjoyed the staging of these numbers, particularly "I Put My Hand In," because Dolly appears in the audience handing out her matchmaking cards to audience members (a cute girl sitting next to me got one of the cards and she held it tightly in her hands during the whole show), and "Elegance," because Cornelius, Barnaby, Irene, and Minnie travel all through the audience to get to the Harmonia Gardens because they boys can't afford to hire a cab. Mack oozes charm and charisma as Dolly and, while she has a wonderful voice, I loved all of her interactions with Clark because it is so much fun to watch all of her hilarious facial expressions as she bamboozles him! The rest of the main cast is also fantastic with Horton (I loved his voice) and Gibbs (he is an amazing dancer) as standouts. I was impressed by the set before I even reached my seat because the stage is stenciled with a pink, red, and black pattern with pink and white miniature Victorian houses with working lights around the perimeter of the stage to represent Yonkers and larger pink and white buildings in the wings, which are moved around the stage during the show, to represent NYC. The wings are also decorated with thousands of pink, white, and red flowers with bouquets of flowers and chandeliers hanging from the rafters. Elaborate set pieces, such Vandergelder's Hay & Feed, the millinery shop, and Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, come up from the pit, down from the rafters, and in from the wings, but I loved the train and cutouts of a marching band that cross the stage during "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "Before the Parade Passes By," respectively. Finally, the period costumes are gorgeous! Every dress features textured, embellished, embroidered, or bedazzled fabrics and every suit features patterned waistcoats, cravats, and hats. This show is so much fun (I found pink, red, and white confetti in my car when I got home) and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) before the parade passes you by!