Musicals Blog

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!