Hello Dolly
by Claire J Rottenberg
"Hello,
Dolly!"
was first produced for Broadway and the original
play starred Carol Channing, although the role
originally was intended for Ethel Merman. "Hello,
Dolly!" was based on the hit play, "The
Matchmaker," by Thorton Wilder and the musical
score was written by Jerry Herman. The play opened
on Broadway in 1964 and it ran for 2,844
performances. "Hello, Dolly!" won 10 Tony awards,
including the award for Best Musical.
The movie version of "Hello,
Dolly!"
was released in 1969. It was directed by Gene
Kelly with choreography by Michael Kidd. The lead
roles were oddly cast, with a 27-year-old Barbra
Streisand playing a middle-aged widow and actor
Walter Matthau, with no singing ability, acting
and singing in his first and only musical. The
supporting cast, on the other hand, consisted of
musically talented unknowns, including Michael
Crawford and Tommy Tune, both of whom would later
make their marks on Broadway in musicals.
The film was a financial success, both in its
original release and when it was released on video in
1980. The film also received critical acclaim,
including receiving an Academy Award nomination for
Best Picture.
Jerry Herman's score for "Hello, Dolly!" contains
memorable songs, including the title song, "Before
the Parade Passes By," and "It Only Takes a Moment."
The songs are mostly lively numbers with some
accompanied in the movie by energetic dancing. One
song, "Just Leave Everything to Me," was written
specifically for the film. Another song, "Love is
Only Love," was originally written for Jerry Herman's
musical play, "Mame." However, the song was cut from
"Mame" before the play opened on Broadway and several
years later, it was added to the score of the movie
version of "Hello Dolly." Both of these new numbers
are sung in the film by Barbra Streisand. The musical
score of "Hello Dolly" won the Academy Award for Best
Music, Score of a Musical Picture.
The film was well directed by Gene Kelly and,
although Kelly was one of the greatest
choreographers, he left that job to Michael Kidd who
had his own unique style that is apparent in the
entertaining acrobatic dance numbers in "Hello
Dolly."
The one downside for me of the movie version of
"Hello Dolly" is the performance of Barbra Streisand.
She was far too young for the role and she played it
as if she were still playing Fanny Brice. Her singing
was, of course, excellent, but in some dialog scenes,
she spoke so quickly that it is difficult to
understand what she said.
Learn more about the film version ofHello, Dolly!