REVIEW: HELLO, DOLLY! Open Air Theatre, August 10 2009

Even the rain coming down on the Regent's Park stage didn't dampen the dazzling brilliance of this production of Hello, Dolly!, directed by Tim Sheader and designed magnificently by Peter McKintosh.

The compelling flame of magnetism burning from Samantha Spiro as the tenacious meddler couldn't have been quelled by a monsoon - though an errant helicopter did try its best to drown her out at one stage. With especially beautiful vocals in her higher belt range, she leads the wonderfully talented company with effortless charisma and likeability.

Josefina Gabrielle offers fine support as Irene Molloy, as luminous a presence as ever and getting the opportunity to show off her dancing even on a limited and wet stage. Daniel Crossley and Oliver Brenin, as the small-town boys on a mission in the city, are charming and appealing, with Brenin, as Barnaby Tucker, pleasingly wide-eyed in his desperation to see all the sights on offer. Allan Corduner does a grand job as curmudgeonly Horace Vandergelder, whose redemption is touching to witness.

In fact, as the parallel love stories reached their resolutions, I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a tear or two - and if my eyes aren't mistaken, so did many of those around me, on stage and in the audience. And therein lies the true merit of this show - in the right hands, as it is now, it still has the power to profoundly move the onlooker to empathy, laughter and joy.

Photo: www.openairtheatre.org