The Origins

Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1954.

The plot of Hello, Dolly! originated in the 1835 English play A Day Well Spent by John Oxenford, which Johann Nestroy adapted into the farce Einen Jux will er sich machen (He Will Go on a Spree) in 1842. Thornton Wilder adapted Nestroy’s play into his 1938 farcical play The Merchant of Yonkers. That play was a flop, so he revised it and retitled it as The Matchmaker in 1954, expanding the role of Dolly (played by Ruth Gordon).

Development and Tryouts

Hello, Dolly! had rocky tryouts in Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, D.C. After receiving the reviews, the creators made major changes to the script and score, including the addition of the song “Before the Parade Passes By”.

Initially called Dolly, A Damned Exasperating Woman, then Call on Dolly, Merrick revised the show’s title after hearing Louis Armstrong’s version of “Hello, Dolly”. According to Jerry Herman, it took six months to write the score.

The Complete Story

Act One

Call on Dolly

As the 19th becomes the 20th century, all of New York City is excited because brassy widow Dolly Gallagher Levi is in town. Dolly makes a living through what she calls “meddling”—matchmaking and numerous sidelines, including dance instruction and mandolin lessons. She is currently seeking a wife for grumpy Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-a-millionaire, but it becomes clear that Dolly intends to marry Horace herself.

Ambrose Kemper, a young artist, wants to marry Horace’s weepy niece Ermengarde, but Horace opposes this because Ambrose’s vocation does not guarantee a steady living. Ambrose enlists Dolly’s help, and they travel to Yonkers, New York to visit Horace, who is a prominent citizen there and owns Vandergelder’s Hay and Feed.

It Takes a Woman

Horace explains to his two clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, that he is going to get married because it takes a woman to cheerfully do all the household chores. He plans to travel with Dolly to New York City to march in the Fourteenth Street Association Parade and propose to the widow Irene Molloy, who owns a hat shop there.

Dolly arrives in Yonkers and “accidentally” mentions that Irene’s first husband might not have died of natural causes, and also mentions that she knows an heiress, Ernestina Money, who may be interested in Horace. Horace departs for New York and leaves Cornelius and Barnaby to mind the store in his absence.

Put on Your Sunday Clothes

Cornelius decides that he and Barnaby need to get out of Yonkers and have an adventure in New York. They blow up some tomato cans to create a terrible stench as a pretext to close the store. Dolly mentions that she knows two ladies in New York they should call on: Irene Molloy and her shop assistant, Minnie Fay.

She tells Ermengarde and Ambrose that she will enter them in the polka competition at the upscale Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in New York City so Ambrose can demonstrate to Horace his ability to be a breadwinner. Cornelius, Barnaby, Ambrose, Ermengarde and Dolly all take the train to New York.

Ribbons Down My Back

Irene and Minnie open their hat shop for the afternoon. Irene wants a husband, but does not love Horace Vandergelder. She declares that she will wear an elaborate hat to impress a gentleman.

Cornelius and Barnaby arrive at the shop and pretend to be rich. Horace and Dolly arrive at the shop, and Cornelius and Barnaby hide from him. Irene inadvertently mentions that she knows Cornelius, and Dolly tells her and Horace that even though Cornelius is Horace’s clerk by day, he is a notorious New York playboy by night.

Motherhood March

Minnie screams when she finds Cornelius hiding in the armoire. Horace is about to open the armoire himself, but Dolly, Irene and Minnie distract him with patriotic sentiments related to subjects like Betsy Ross and Battle of the Alamo shown in the famous lyrics “Alamo, remember the Alamo!”

Cornelius sneezes, and Horace storms out, realizing there are men hiding in the shop, but not knowing they are his clerks.

Dancing & Before the Parade Passes By

Dolly arranges for Cornelius and Barnaby, who are still pretending to be rich, to take the ladies out to dinner to the Harmonia Gardens restaurant to make up for their humiliation. She teaches Cornelius and Barnaby how to dance since they always have dancing at such establishments. Soon, Cornelius, Irene, Barnaby, and Minnie are happily dancing.

They go to watch the great 14th Street Association Parade together. Alone, Dolly decides to put her dear departed husband Ephraim behind her and to move on with life. She asks Ephraim’s permission to marry Horace, requesting a sign from him.

Dolly catches up with the annoyed Vandergelder, who has missed the whole parade, and she convinces him to give her matchmaking one more chance. She tells him that Ernestina Money would be perfect for him and asks him to meet her at the swanky Harmonia Gardens that evening.

Elegance

Cornelius is determined to get a kiss before the night is over, but Barnaby isn’t so sure. As the clerks have no money for a carriage, they tell the girls that walking to the restaurant shows that they’ve got “Elegance”.

Act Two

The Waiters’ Gallop & Hello, Dolly!

At the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, Rudolph, the head waiter, prepares his service crew for Dolly Gallagher Levi’s return: their usual lightning service, he tells them, must be “twice as lightning”.

Horace arrives with his date, but she proves neither as rich nor as elegant as Dolly had implied; furthermore she is soon bored by Horace and leaves, as Dolly had planned she would.

Cornelius, Barnaby, and their dates arrive, unaware that Horace is also dining at the restaurant. Irene and Minnie, inspired by the restaurant’s opulence, order the menu’s most expensive items. Cornelius and Barnaby grow increasingly anxious as they discover they have little more than a dollar left.

Dolly makes her triumphant return to the Harmonia Gardens and is greeted in style by the staff. She sits in the now-empty seat at Horace’s table and proceeds to eat a large, expensive dinner, telling the exasperated Horace that no matter what he says, she will not marry him.

The Polka Contest

Barnaby and Horace hail waiters at the same time, and in the ensuing confusion each drops his wallet and inadvertently picks up the other’s. Barnaby is delighted that he can now pay the restaurant bill, while Horace finds only a little spare change.

Barnaby and Cornelius realize that the wallet must belong to Horace. Cornelius, Irene, Barnaby and Minnie try to sneak out during “The Polka Contest”, but Horace recognizes them and spots Ermengarde and Ambrose as well. The ensuing free-for-all culminates in a trip to night court.

It Only Takes a Moment

Cornelius and Barnaby confess that they have no money and have never been to New York before. Cornelius declares that even if he has to dig ditches the rest of his life, he’ll never forget the day because he had met Irene. Cornelius, Barnaby, and Ambrose then each profess their love for their companion.

Dolly convinces the judge that their only crime was being in love. The judge finds everyone innocent and cleared of all charges, but Horace is declared guilty and forced to pay damages.

So Long, Dearie

Dolly mentions marriage again, and Horace declares that he wouldn’t marry her if she were the last woman in the world. Dolly angrily bids him farewell, telling him that while he’s bored and lonely, she’ll be living the high life.

Finale: Hello, Dolly! (Reprise)

The next morning, back at the hay and feed store, Cornelius and Irene, Barnaby and Minnie, and Ambrose and Ermengarde each set out on new life’s paths.

A chastened Horace Vandergelder finally admits that he needs Dolly in his life, but Dolly is unsure about the marriage until her late husband sends her a sign. Vandergelder spontaneously repeats a saying of Ephraim’s: “Money is like manure. It’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread about, encouraging young things to grow.”

Horace tells Dolly life would be dull without her, and she promises in return that she’ll “never go away again”.

Cast & Characters

The Musical Numbers

Original Broadway Production (1964-1970)

The musical, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick, opened on January 16, 1964, at the St. James Theatre and closed on December 27, 1970, after 2,844 performances.

Record-Breaking Success

Although facing competition from Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand, Hello, Dolly! swept the Tony Awards in 1964, winning awards in ten categories (out of eleven nominations) that tied the musical with the previous record keeper South Pacific, a record that remained unbroken for 37 years until The Producers won twelve Tonys in 2001.

The show received rave reviews, with praise for Carol Channing and particularly Gower Champion. The original production became the longest-running musical (and third longest-running show) in September 1970 in Broadway history up to that time, surpassing My Fair Lady and then being surpassed in turn by Fiddler on the Roof.

The Broadway production of Hello Dolly! grossed $27 million. By August 1970, it had made a profit of $8.5 million against its $350,000 investment.

The Long Line of Dolly Levis

After Channing left the show, Merrick employed prominent actresses to play Dolly, creating one of Broadway’s most legendary succession of stars:

Other Broadway Cast Replacements (1964-1970)

West End Original Production (1965-1967)

Hello, Dolly! premiered in the West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on December 2, 1965, and ran for 794 performances. Champion directed and choreographed.

National Tours & Regional Productions

Mary Martin’s US Tour (1965)

Mary Martin starred in a US tour, starting in April 1965 and playing in 11 cities. The production also toured in Japan, Korea and Vietnam for a special USO performance for U.S. troops.

Carol Channing’s Second Tour (1965-1968)

After Channing left the Broadway show, she headed a second US tour beginning in September 1965. 18 months later, Ginger Rogers also joined the roadshow production. It ran for two years and nine months. Eve Arden and Dorothy Lamour were replacements.

Pearl Bailey All-Black Tour (1967)

Bailey and Calloway headed an all-Black tour in 1967 prior to their Broadway run, which was given a second cast album.

Other Touring and Regional Dollys

The role has been played in tours and regional productions by a legendary list of stars:

• Carole Cook – The second actress to play the title role after Channing, appearing in Australia and New Zealand productions
• Dorothy Lamour
• Eve Arden
• Ann Miller
• Michele Lee
• Edie Adams
• Yvonne De Carlo
• Betty White – Appeared with the Kenley Players as Dolly in the summer of 1979
• Molly Picon – 1971 production by the North Shore Music Theatre of Beverly, Massachusetts
• Lainie Kazan – Production at the Claridge Atlantic City
• Vicki Lawrence – Played the role twice, once for Sacramento Music Circus and once for Glendale Music Theatre
• Tovah Feldshuh – Paper Mill Playhouse production
• Betsy Palmer – Paper Mill Playhouse production
• Marilyn Maye – Several regional productions and recorded a full album of the score

Broadway Revivals

The 2017-2018 Broadway Revival

On January 19, 2016, it was announced that Bette Midler would play the title role in a Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! Previews began March 15, 2017, officially opening on April 20, 2017, at the Shubert Theatre.

Awards and Acclaim

Midler won the Tony for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and Creel for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, at the 71st Tony Awards in 2017. The production was a critical and commercial triumph.

Cast Changes

Donna Murphy played the role of Dolly at Tuesday evening performances beginning in June 2017, as well as covering Midler’s holiday dates. She played her final performance on January 7, 2018.

January 2018 Company Change

Midler, Pierce, Trensch, and Feldstein left the production on January 14, 2018.

Closing Company

The production closed on August 25, 2018, with Midler and Hyde Pierce returning to play Dolly and Horace (respectively) from July 17, 2018, to closing, giving fans one more chance to see the original stars.

West End Revivals

UK Tours

A 1989 UK tour directed and choreographed by Paul Kerryson, was headlined by Dora Bryan reprising her 1965-66 West End role. Bryan’s castmates included Norman Rossington as Horace and Kathryn Evans as Irene.

Kerryson would subsequently direct the 2014 Curve Theatre (Leicester) production, headlined by Janie Dee whose castmates included Laura Pitt-Pulford as Irene and Michael Xavier as Cornelius.

From February 2008, Anita Dobson headlined a six month tour which played 19 British venues. Dobson’s castmates included Darren Day as Cornelius and Louise English as Irene.

International Productions

Australia

The Australian production presented by J. C. Williamson’s opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney on March 27, 1965. Carole Cook was imported to star, making her the second woman to play the role of Dolly Levi. Jack Goode played Horace, alongside Bill Millican as Cornelius, Jill Perryman as Irene, Tikki Taylor as Minnie Fay, and Brian Hannan as Barnaby. After Sydney, the show went on to play Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, and His Majesty’s Theatre, Auckland in 1966.

In 1995 a new Australian tour was presented by Gordon Frost. Jill Perryman, who starred as Irene Molloy in the 1965 production, starred as Dolly Levi. The Production Company has staged Hello, Dolly! at the State Theatre, Melbourne twice: first in 2002, starring Amanda Muggleton, then again in 2017, starring Marina Prior.

Israel (1968-1970)

Hanna Maron starred as Dolly Levi, one of the most famous actress on the Israeli theater, at the “Alhambra” theater, produced by Giora Godik, also starring Shraga Friedman as Horace Vandergelder, Gadi Yagil as Cornelius Hackl and Tzipi Shavit as Minnie Fay. The musical was a huge success and Dolly remains one of Maron’s lovable roles. Translated to Hebrew by Haim Hefer.

Latin America

• 1967: Argentine singer and actress Libertad Lamarque starred in the first Spanish language version of the musical in the Teatro Manolo Fabregas of Mexico City. Lamarque also starred the musical in Argentina the same year.
• 1985: Cuban diva Rosita Fornés played Dolly in a Cuban production at the Teatro Karl Marx in Havana. She also played the role in Camaguey City and in a television production.
• 1989: Canadian theatre actress Nonnie Griffin played Dolly in a 10-month run in Toronto.
• 1996: Mexican cinema star Silvia Pinal starred opposite Ignacio Lopez Tarso in the Teatro Silvia Pinal, in Mexico City.
• 2018: Mexican actress and singer Daniela Romo starred in a new Mexican version at the Teatro de los Insurgentes in Mexico City.
• 2020: Lucía Galán (half of the Pimpinela singing duo) starred in the Argentinian version at the Teatro Opera in Buenos Aires.

Paris (2024)

Caroline O’Connor starred in a new English language production commemorating 60 years of Hello, Dolly! at Lido 2 Paris, directed and choreographed by Stephen Mear.

The 1969 Film

A 1974 film version of the musical starred Barbra Streisand as Mame… wait, that’s not right!

A 1969 film version of the musical was produced by 20th Century Fox, starring Barbra Streisand as Dolly Gallagher Levi (at age 27), with Walter Matthau as Horace Vandergelder, Michael Crawford as Cornelius Hackl, and Louis Armstrong in a small but memorable role performing part of the title song.

The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Score of a Musical Picture, and was nominated in four other categories, including Best Picture at the 42nd Academy Awards. Despite the awards, the film was a box office disappointment and received mixed reviews, with some critics feeling Streisand was too young for the role.

Cultural Impact & Legacy

The Cast Recordings

The RCA Victor cast recording of the original Broadway production was released in 1964. It was the number-one album on the Billboard pop albums chart for seven weeks, the top album of the year on the Year-End chart and won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

In 1965, a recording of the original London production was released. In 1967, RCA Victor released a recording of the all-black Broadway replacement cast, featuring Pearl Bailey. The movie soundtrack was released in 1969. The 2017 Broadway Revival cast recording was released on May 12, 2017.

Louis Armstrong’s Triumph

Armstrong’s 1964 recording of the song “Hello, Dolly!” rose to the top of the Billboard pop chart. The album Hello, Dolly! replaced the original Broadway cast album at #1 on June 6, 1964. This made Armstrong, at age 62, the oldest person to have a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Smithsonian Collection

Following the thirtieth anniversary tour of the show, the Smithsonian accepted a donation from Channing and theatrical producer Manny Kladitis of the red satin, sequin-bedecked costume designed by Freddy Wittop. Worn by Channing during the climactic title song at the Harmonia Gardens, the red gown has been displayed at the National Museum of American History.

The remainder of the original Wittop costumes are part of the Broadway Collection at Costume World, a theatrical museum located in Pompano Beach, Florida.

And Dolly will never go away again. 🎆💥🎇✨