Hello Dolly

‘Hello Dolly!’ is a strange and mysterious musical beast which seems to have one foot in the ‘old world’ of pre-‘Oklahoma!’ frothy musical comedy and the other planted firmly in a more 1960s sensibility. It’s also something of an old warhorse (not unlike Ms Levi herself) of a show and a showbiz legend of a musical, so I approached the evening with interest to see what the hearty company of St Cuthbert’s would bring to their production of this Broadway classic.

The curtain opened to reveal a charming slice of turn of the (last) century New York with a jolly ensemble bedecked in lovely costumes to provide a colourful stage picture. This was a very traditional production which set its stall out right from the off - as we say in Burnley - and the homely, community spirit flowed out over the footlights and into the auditorium straight away. We are introduced to Dolly as she fills us in on all the services she provides with a jolly number entitled ‘I Put My Hand In’. Rachel Barrowclough was our Dolly for the evening and we knew that we were in safe hands as she breezed around the stage in full command of proceedings very nicely indeed. There was a touch of the ‘Mae West/ W.C. Fields’ in Rachel’s performance which I found rather endearing and her easy manner made for pleasant company all evening. Dolly is a very demanding role - she’s on stage for a hefty amount of the show - and this was obviously a labour of love for Rachel who gave a solid performance throughout and her canny machinations were affected with great charm. 

The plot revolves around the comical goings-on when various members of the Vandergelder household have a trip out to the bright lights of New York City and Dolly’s comical matchmaking efforts become entangled in the whole business. Horace Vandergelder - the well known half-millionaire - was played with just the right amount of blustering humour by Robin Reid who really connected with the audience in a friendly and confident performance. The relationship between Horace and Dolly was very well played, with their ups and downs along the way nicely handled too.  

Vandergelder’s shop boys Cornelius and Barnaby gave a good account of themselves as played by Richard Parrish and Karl Pilkington respectively. Richard gave a thoughtful and rounded performance as love-struck Cornelius in what was a delightfully sweet and honest characterisation, with Karl providing a comically doleful sidekick: again, an effective partnership on stage. Mrs Irene Molloy and her helpmate, Minnie were another pair of well drawn characters from Hayley Watson-Reid and Helen Pollard. My favourite song in the show - ‘Ribbons Down My Back’ - was given a lovely vocal treatment by Hayley and was worth the price of admission alone: Hayley was a marvellous Mrs Molloy and Helen was a delightfully comical Minnie in what is an often overlooked part. On a similar theme - that of often neglected roles - Ermengarde and Ambrose (the cut-price ‘Romeo and Juliet’ of the show) were given a fully-rounded and youthful exuberance by Laura Wilkinson and Adam Brierley: full marks. 

Act One introduces us to the various characters in a pleasantly old fashioned way but the real heart of ‘Hello Dolly’ lies in the Harmonia Gardens sequence with the coming together of music, movement and comedy. Throughout the show, what might be considered an ‘old fashioned’ approach - admittedly dictated by the venue - of sweeping in a curtain while business was conducted at the front of the stage as a scene change was effected beyond, was dealt with with admirable charm: I wondered how the great ‘set piece’ of the Harmonia Gardens section would work itself out given the relatively bijou playing space available. There was no need to worry however! The stage team had worked incredibly hard to make sure that each scene change and every set was organised well and looked good. Naturally, St Cuthbert’s Community Hall stage was never going to pass for the busy, bustling Harmonia Gardens but the clever way in which the space was utilised - and the famous staircase takes centre stage - was ingenious, letting our imaginations do the rest and there was real old-school charm oozing from the stage in every scene. By the end of Act One, I was a bit fed up of the peculiar blue satin cloth wafting in from nowhere to hide a scene change but that was more than compensated for given the overall result. 

For me, one of the most important elements of seeing a show and having a rewarding evening out at the theatre revolves around a production being able to successfully combine a lucid narrative with believable characterisations and also, underpin everything with an intelligent exploration of the broader themes inherent in the piece. This was a production which told the story clearly and which didn’t just string together a series of songs and dances to no good purpose, with the narrative clearly and cleanly expressed.  It has to be said the ‘Waiters Gallop’ section fell a little flat (there was a good deal of the waiters coming on with a tray only to go off again, sharpish) and the dancing sequence probably felt as cramped for the participants on stage as it looked from the audience but again, the exigencies of space explain away any minor shortcomings here. The humour of the booth scenes helped to smooth away any niggles of that sort in any case, with Elaine Morris making a wonderfully comical cameo as Ernestina!

Musical numbers were well served by the vocalists with the aforementioned ‘Ribbons Down My Back’ leading the way and ‘It Only Takes a Moment’ not far behind. ‘Hello Dolly’ was perhaps a little underpowered but Rachel made up for it with a lovely rendition of ‘So Long Dearie’ and an exuberant, foot tapping ‘Before the Parade Passes By’. For a show like ‘Hello Dolly’ - which fairly bounces along musically speaking - there’s always the expectation of a ‘big’ sound from the band and alas, it has to be said a couple of keyboards and a drum-kit aren’t really up to the task, no matter how enthusiastic the playing from the pit (and the old piano really is desperately in need of tuning!) Given the musical forces available, it’s possibly something to consider for future show choices.

Smaller roles were played in fine style across the board and the ensemble worked well to provide excellent support and it was obvious that this was a very happy production: congratulations to directors Janet Gilbert and Lesley Riley for obviously inspiring the cast and crew to give of their very best. St Cuthbert’s always produce a show which is full of community spirit and the sense of a team effort lies at the heart of everything they do: as it should be for every society aiming to produce amateur theatrical entertainment. Many thanks as always for a reception which was as warm, friendly and heartfelt as the production itself.

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