BWW Reviews: HELLO, DOLLY! from The Renaissance Players

If there were a Mount Rushmore for the creative men and women most responsible for the ageless glory that exemplifies the very best of American musical theater, you could make a credible case for Jerry Herman's inclusion on that edifice. His music is memorable, his characters iconic, his shows timeless...and you're reminded of the mark he's left on this peculiarly American art form by the preshow music (a compilation of Herman's most recognizable tunes) being played at Dickson's Renaissance Center prior to curtain for The Renaissance Players' production of Hello, Dolly! - arguably Herman's best-known musical and one that captures the joyous buoyancy that typifies his canon of work.

Directed and choreographed by the multi-talented Bryan Wlas, who plays Ambrose Kemper in this musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker,  The Renaissance Players' production is lovingly brought to the stage by a large cast of locals - some making their stage debuts, some coming out of self-prescribed stage retirement, and still others adding the show to their professional acting resumes - who represent the very best of community theater, cheerfully and resolutely giving their all to infuse Hello, Dolly! with spirit, verve and camaraderie. Sure, the production has its flaws (so what if Horace Vandergelder sounds like a Confederate Army veteran, the show's being done in a small Southern town for goodness' sake!), but the cast and crew are having so much fun that you can easily overlook almost anything to be transported by one of musical theater's most appealing and enduring scores.

In fact, The Renaissance Players' cast is so likable and the production so spirited and effusive that they reaffirm your own dauntless exhilaration and sheer delight in seeing musical comedy performed with panache and style. In short, they've found the real sense of community that pervades the theater and which, most certainly, should define the term "community theater."

The show is most successful in its ensemble numbers, in which Wlas displays his skill at artfully choreographing a large group of primarily non-dancers to move gracefully about the stage. "Put on Your Sunday Clothes," which is one of the best production numbers ever written for the musical theater, retains all its theatricality and joie de vivre in The Renaissance Players' version, and the Act Two performance of the show's title tune (and "The Waiters' Gallop" which immediately precedes Dolly's arrival at the Harmonia Gardens) is as flashy and showy as you could ever hope for, with Wlas' cast adroitly performing it with aplomb.

Credit for the ensemble's exceptional vocals, as well as for the rest of the musical program, goes to musical director Nathan W. Brown (whose clear tenor never fails to impress), who does double-duty as shop clerk Cornelis Hackl.

Of course, any production of Hello, Dolly! is only as good as the actress playing its protagonist and, thankfully, Marilyn Fair delivers the goods, her own performance mirroring the growing warmth and affection you feel for Dolly Gallagher Levi. In other words, Fair's performance grows on you, so that by the time she closes Act One with "Before the Parade Passes By" you are 100% on Dolly's side, however duplicitous she may be in her efforts to snare a husband for herself and despite her rather questionable, nefarious business dealings.

She is paired with Carey Thompson as the drawling Horace Vandergelder who - though his accent sounds more Bucksnort than Yonkers - nonetheless maintains Horace's irascibility quotient while delivering a performance that is ultimately very charming. The scene that comes late in the second act, in which Horace proclaims his love for Dolly, is sweetly moving and rather sentimental, thanks to the chemistry between Fair and Thompson.

Brown is a delightful Cornelius, displaying a confident comic grace in his scenes with the impressive M. Zane Jordan as his cohort Barnaby Tucker. The two men play off each other with an easy style that works well, delivering a nice payoff when they come face-to-face with two comely young women in the characters of Irene Malloy (played with such a quiet and lovely manner by Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon, who has one of the most expressive voices to be found on any stage) and Minnie Fay (Arica Riekeman in a deliciously droll and just-this-close-to-almost-over-the-top comedic turn). The interactions of the four actors provide an undercurrent of believability and charm to the primary romantic machinations of Dolly and Horace, which is perfectly captured during Act One's  "Motherhood March" and Act Two's curtain-raiser "Elegance."

Among the supporting cast, Emma Jordan uses her time onstage as Ernestina Money to threaten to steal the show out from under the principals, using her expert timing to make the most of her all-too-brief appearance. Jon Kopischke is quite good as the officious Harmonia Gardens maître d' Rudolph, while Rachel Jackson is fine as Ermengarde opposite the always appealing Wlas' Ambrose.

Nathan Ray's lighting design adds a visual dimension to the production's gorgeous scenic design (most of which are from Cumberland County Playhouse), giving Wlas the appropriate backdrop for his elegant staging of the musical.

Hello, Dolly! Book by Michael Stewart. Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Directed and choreographed by Bryan J. Wlas. Musical direction by Nathan W. Brown. Presented by The Renaissance Players at The Renaissance Center, 855 Highway 46 South, Dickson. For reservations, call (615) 740-5600. For further information about the company, visit the website at www.rcenter.org.

 

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