Hello Dolly

From the first to the last notes played everything in this production was of the highest standard. It was quality throughout. The direction was slick, innovative and fast paced with imaginative choreography and strong confident singing from chorus, ensembles and principals.

The pivot for the story is Dolly, superbly played by Vicki Hardy who showed what a talented singer, actor and dancer she is. Her asides were perfectly timed and her facial expressions were a delight. She was well matched by Craig Smith as the grumpy shopkeeper, Horace Vandergelder, who makes the mistake of underestimating the wiles of Dolly. I was also impressed by Adam Gregory (Cornelius Hackl) and Alex Wooliscroft (Barnaby Tucker). They worked really well together as characters and sang and danced like seasoned professionals. Lizzie Buckingham (Irene Molloy) and Hannah Bird (Minnie Fay) completed this quartet and their ensembles particularly Dancing and Elegance were full of fun and energy. Another well cast pairing was Chris Room as Ambrose Kemper and Eleanor Shephard as Ermengarde and they injected more humour into the plot as did Gill Westwood as Ernestina. There was good support from Jayne Ison (Mrs Rose), Geoff Bird (Rudolph Reisenweber) and Simon Peacock (Judge).

Not only was the choreography well thought out, it was slickly executed by all the principals, the ensembles and the chorus. One of the many highlights was the superbly timed Waiters’ Gallop.

The set was impressive and well handled by the stage crew so that the movement between scenes was seamless. Costumes were stunning and they were shown at their best by a good lighting plot. Most of the time the sound balance between the excellent orchestra and the stage was just right.

The audience obviously enjoyed the evening by showing their appreciation through their generous applause. Congratulations to everyone involved!    

 

 

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