Way Off Broadway Will Say HELLO, DOLLY! This Spring

It has been a long time coming, but this spring The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre will welcome the musical Hello, Dolly! to its stage. The Broadway classic was originally scheduled as part of the theatre's 2021 Season but was forced to be rescheduled due to matters relating to the Covid pandemic. Even though Way Off Broadway is currently celebrating its 28th Season and has produced over a hundred different shows, the upcoming production will mark the first time the Jerry Herman musical has ever appeared at the theatre.

In Hello, Dolly!, Dolly Levi is a widow, a matchmaker, and a professional meddler - but everything changes when she decides that the next match she needs to make is to find someone for herself. Set in New York City at the turn of the last century, Hello, Dolly! is boisterous and charming from start to finish. This blockbuster Broadway hit bursts with humor, romance, high-energy, and some of the greatest songs in musical theater history.

Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! is one of the most recognizable titles in the history of musical theatre. However, the story itself is not original. Its credits state that it is an adaptation of Thornton Wilder's 1955 play The Matchmaker. What most people don't know, is that The Matchmaker is not where the original story comes from either. The plot of Hello, Dolly! is actually traced back to an English play from 1835 called A Day Well Spent, written by John Oxenford. A Day Well Spent was then adapted into a farce called He Will Go On a Spree by Johann Nestroy. In 1938, Wilder took his first stab at adapting the story into his own farce called The Merchant of Yonkers, which flopped. After much revision, and a new name, The Matchmaker opened in 1955 and became a hit for Wilder.

When work began on adapting the play into a musical, the creators originally wrote the character of Dolly Levi for stage legend Ethel Merman, who turned the role down. After several other actresses were considered for the part, the role was given to Carol Channing, who has since become synonymous with the character of Dolly Levi.

Though out of town try outs for Hello, Dolly! did not go very well, after major changes to the show, it opened at the St. James Theatre on January 16, 1964. Directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, the show was a smash hit. When the Tonys rolled around, Hello, Dolly! won eleven of the twelve awards for which it had been nominated, including Best Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Channing), Best Direction (Champion), and Best Choreography (Champion). Its eleven wins made it the winningest Broadway musical of all time. A distinction it held until Mel Brooks' The Producers won twelve Tonys in 2001.

The original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! went on to run for six years and over 2,800 performances - at one time becoming the longest running Broadway musical in history. Following Channing's departure from the show after nearly two years of performances, she was followed in the title role by a long line of stage and screen stars including Betty Grable, Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Phyllis Diller, Pearl Bailey, and finally Ethel Merman, who after turning down the opportunity to create the role, was the production's final Dolly in 1970.

As Hello, Dolly! was still entertaining audiences in New York City, in 1969 20th Century Fox released a filmed version staring Barbara Streisand in the title role, alongside Walter Matthau as Horace Vandergelder and a young Michael Crawford as Cornelius Hackl.

Since the original production, Hello, Dolly! has returned to Broadway four times - two of which saw the return of Channing as the meddlesome matchmaker. In the most recent revival, Bette Midler took on the role of Dolly Levi opposite David Hyde Pierce's Horace. At the 2017 Tonys, the production took home the awards for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Midler), as well as Best Featured Actor (Gavin Creel) and Best Costume Design (Santo Loquasto).

Way Off Broadway's production will be led by Sarah Melinda as the meddlesome matchmaker alongside Steve Steele as curmudgeonly "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. They will be joined on stage by Justin Barish, Sarah Biggs, Jessica Billones, Rory Dunn, Zoe Fox, Joey Leavitt, Dana McNemar, Jessica Shearer, Cindi Webb, and Megan E. West.

Hello, Dolly! has music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart. Way Off Broadway's production is directed by Bill Kiska, with music direction by Jordan B. Stocksdale and choreography by Dee Buchanan.

The show will open March 25, 2022 and run through May 21st, with performance every Friday and Saturday evening, and matinees on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sunday of each month. As special Sunday Matinee on May 8th has been added for Mother's Day. Tickets for Friday evenings and Sunday matinees are $52; Saturday evenings, tickets are $55. Tickets can be purchased by stopping by the theatre or calling the Box Office at (301) 662-6600.

To learn more Hello, Dolly!, or any of Way Off Broadway's upcoming productions, which includes Beverly Hillbillies - The Musical, Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, and Countdown to Christmas, visit www.wayoffbroadway.com.

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre, under the direction of the Kiska family since 2002, is currently in its 28th Season of producing live theatre. Since it first opened in 1995, the theatre has been a leader in the area's theatre community, proudly bringing both classic musicals, as well as regional and area premieres to the Frederick stage. Productions have included Mamma Mia!, Disney's Beauty & the Beast, Sister Act, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Monty Python's Spamalot, Noises Off, The Addams Family, Les Misérables, Sunset Boulevard, Legally Blonde, Dolly Parton's 9 to 5: The Musical, Hairspray, South Pacific, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Full Monty, Mel Brooks' The Producers, CATS, The Wedding Singer, Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, La Cage aux Folles, Guys & Dolls, Steel Magnolias, Annie, Bye Bye, Birdie, The King & I, ...Forum, Lend Me a Tenor, Joseph..., Blood Brothers, Mame, and 42nd Street. In addition to its regular season, Way Off Broadway produces a number of special events throughout the year, including family theatre productions and an annual Breakfast with Santa (and Mrs. Claus). Through its outside producing brand, WOB LIVE! Entertainment, the theatre also presents Marquee Mysteries - an interactive murder mystery series - not only at Way Off Broadway, but on the Walkersville Southern Railroad and at the Inn BoonsBoro. www.wayoffbroadway.com

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