Review: Effervescent and Upbeat DOLLY! at Welk Resort, Escondido

Hello Dolly/music & lyrics by Jerry Herman/book by Michael Stewart/directed and choreographed by Ray Limon/Welk Resort, Escondido/through November 15

Some shows I can see again and again, especially those composed by the forever upbeat Jerry Herman. Hello Dolly bowed on Broadway when I was a teenager in the 60s and it had a long run with original star Carol Channing, followed by turns with Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers, Pearl Bailey, Martha Raye and Molly Picon, to name a few. Every major star wanted to do it because the role offers a female actress the chance to sing, dance and act the hell out of it. It's a big, splashy gut buster about a woman who has more moxy than the Pied Piper and enough wisdom and panache to win over an army or a whole kingdom, for that matter...and, for the audience, it's one of those extra-special feel-good musicals that just doesn't quit... for a moment. You leave the theatre actually humming the tunes.Welk Resort's current production of Dolly! in Escondido through November 15 is right on target...it's wondrously delectable.

Michael Stewart bases his book on Thornton Wilder's 1955 play The Matchmaker, in which a meddlesome woman named Dolly Gallagher Levi returns to Yonkers and New York City in the early 20th century after the death of her husband Ephram to bring romance into the lives of others as well as her own. Pretty millinery owner Irene Malloy (Charlene Koepf) is one woman Dolly introduces to client Horace Vandergelder, a rich Yonkers store owner, but it's all a facade as Dolly has her eyes set on Horace ... for herself, although she refuses to admit it. In the end a series of the matchmaker's outrageous ploys entangle Horace and force him to surrender to her quaint charms.

Director Ray Limon has an eye for the big picture while keeping the entire show small scale. Even though there are only nine dancers in the ensemble and the sets by Don Ertel are trimmed down - even the Harmonia Gardens has a short staircase - the directorial eye has kept every detail in place and so it all works beautifully.The tiny group of dancing waiters with the 'Waiter's Gallop' in Act II, work in excessive leaps and bounds with nothing spared from the original choreography.

The cast is nothing short of perfection - and they all sing exceedingly well, individually and in chorus. Cynthia Ferrer makes Dolly Gallagher Levi totally her own, laced with her trademark effervescent humor, sarcastic comedic style and sterling singing voice. This lady is a true triple-threat performer who leaves her unquestionable mark of versatility on every role she plays. Randy Doney makes a delightfully believable Horace Vandergelder; a nice guy by nature, he seldom appears stern, but manages to convey Vandergelder's gruffness and penny-pinching qualities without going over the top. Scott Arnold is a sincere and lovable Cornelius Hackl and Andrew J. Koslow an equally appealing Barnaby Tucker. They have great chemistry in the awkward moments, playing them completely for real. Bailey Sonner rather underplays Minnie Fay's innocence, but is certainly quick and energetic at all costs. Koepf is just wonderful as Irene Molloy. She possesses a strong and lilting singing voice that really does justice to "Ribbons Down My Back" and her later duet "It Only Takes as Moment" with Arnold. Kudos as well to Fisher Kaake as Ambrose Kemper, Jeni Baker as the whimpering Ermengarde, Catie Marron deliciously over.the.top funny as Ernestina Money and to the rest of the enjoyable chorus.

Jerry Herman's jubilant score includes: "Put On Your Sunday Clothes", "It Only Takes a Moment", "Elegance", "Before the Parade Passes By", "Motherhood", So Long, Dearie", "I Put My Hand In" "It Takes a Woman" and of course the title song. Some shows are remembered mostly for the title song or have one big hit; Hello, Dolly! can boast of multiple chart toppers. As in all Herman music, there is a positive and mirthful attitude; the songs are all singable, rare in musicals these days. Makes me ever so glad that I come from this generation dominated by the Golden Age of Broadway musicals!

This is a fine production that is colorfully costumed by Janet Pitcher and with a wonderful live orchestra under the baton of Justin Gray. This lovely Hello, Dolly! promises to "never go away again" ...well, at least until November 15, so do 'put on your Sunday clothes', board that train to Escondido and 'put your hand in' 'Before the Parade Passes By'!

//welkresorts.com/san-diego-theatre/

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