"Hello Dolly" Plot Question

[Phantom487]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 8:05am

I had always assumed that Dolly Levi lived in New York City -- at the top of the show, she's taking the train from Grand Central Station to Yonkers.

Right before her "Ephram, let me go..." monologue, Dolly meets Mrs. Rose who says "It's been a long time since you lived here... such a long, long time." So I was left a bit confused... Does she not live in NYC? Or, had she been somewhat of a "shut in" since Ephram died, that it seemed as if she no longer lived there?? Can anyone clear this up?

Incidentally... the Scene Breakdown in the Playbill's from the 1978 and 1994 revivals (not in the Original one) list the "Mrs. Rose/Ephram, let me go..." scene as "Ephram's Deserted Store" - which was a surprise to me, because it is never mentioned that Ephram owned a store in the city, nor that Dolly was visiting the site of his store in this scene. To say that she IS in fact in what used to be his store adds an even bigger meaning & personal connection to her "Let me go..." monologue. I'm just curious as to if there was any reference/change in the '78 or '94 revivals to explain that she was in his deserted store, other than the Scene Listing in the Playbill, which could be easily missed by many in the audience. Anyone have some light to shed on this?

[RagtimeRay]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 1:49pm

Although I don't believe it is specified exactly where Dolly has been living since Ephraim died, Dolly makes it clear that she has not been active in the 14th Street neighborhood when she sings in the title number:

"I went away from the lights of 14th Street and into my personal haze. But now that I'm back in the lights of 14th Street, tomorrow will be brighter than those good ole days."

Cue the chorus: "Those good old days..." ba da bum

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 2:51pm

Just because Dolly has been living in Manhattan doesn't mean that she's been circulating in society the way she and Efraim did when he was a live.  Who can enoy "the lights of 14th Street" when you're all alone?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 3:14pm

"Dolly meets Mrs. Rose who says "It's been a long time since you lived here... such a long, long time."

Mrs. Rose is a lying slag.

Problem solved.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 4:43pm

Not living around Union Square is not the same as living out of town. 

Perhaps Dolly wanted to live in another place away from the hubbub, somewhere more suited to her personal haze.  Perhaps she wanted to live somewhere other than her marital home because she was readying herself for the new life she wasn't quite ready to embrace.  Maybe she didn't want to be constantly reminded of Ephram and loss.

But that could easily be in another NYC neighborhood.

Or maybe she's been in the same place but has been keeping such a low profile that Mrs. Rose assumed she had moved away.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 6:04pm

Interesting post.

I always assumed at the beginning of the play that Dolly was departing from Grand Central because she had just paid a visit to Irene's shop and was returning to Yonkers to relay any info she had gathered to Horace.

I'm also intrigued by the mention of "Ephram's Deserted Store." There's no mention in the script (as far as I remember) about Ephram's profession or having owned a store. I (somewhat) recently saw the tour with Sally Struthers and I don't think there was any set piece or storefront of the deserted store.

Maybe a reading of The Matchmaker could provide some answers; perhaps remnants of a dropped sublet from the play remained in the musical.

[RagtimeRay]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 9:29pm

In the script for Hello, Dolly! here is the stage direction following the Dancing number:

(DANCE, during which Hat Shop revolves and moves off R. Toward end of DANCE Deserted Store Olio comes in. MRS. ROSE with vegetable cart enters U.S.R.)

No mention that it is Ephraim's deserted store.

[Phantom487]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 10:54pm

Yes, only the Playbill refers to it as Ephram's store. 

[newintown]

Posted: 5/13/15 at 9:48am

Reviewing the script for The Matchmaker, one finds:

There are 4 acts:
Act 1 is Vandergelder's house in Yonkers, NY
Act 2 is Mrs. Molloy's hat store in New York
Act 3 is The Harmonia Gardens Restaurant on the Battery (not 14th Street)
Act 4 is Miss Van Huysen's house (where everyone goes after the chaos at the restaurant, and everything gets tied up).

Miss van Huysen and Dolly Levi are identified in the cast list as "friends of Vandergelder's late wife."

3/4 of the way (or so) through Act 4, everyone but Dolly goes into the kitchen for coffee, and Dolly delivers her "Ephraim Levi, I'm going to get married again" soliloquy. Vandergelder then re-enters and asks her to marry him, and everything ends nicely.