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Hello Dolly


Hello Dolly revolves around the eccentric lead character, Dolly Gallagher Levi. A widow who enjoys what she calls 'meddling', or matchmaking.

Set at the turn of the century this is a time of great excitement and this flows throughout the whole show. With big glamorous show numbers and likeable, funny characters this is a popular musical which requires a larger-than-life cast.

Dolly starts the show by attempting to match grouch Horace Vandergelder with a bride, however it soon becomes clear that actually Dolly wishes to marry Horace herself. A young artist, Ambrose Kemper asks Dolly for help because he wishes to marry Horace's niece Ermengarde, however Horace does not approve of this match as Ambrose is just an artist and he feels his niece could do much better.

At Vandergelder's Hay and Feed, the store that Horace owns in Yonkers, New York, he employs two clerks who both dream of spending a day in the vibrant city. When Horace announces to them that he is visiting the city to meet a potential bride and that he is leaving them in charge they see it as the perfect oppurtunity to escape for a day. They blow up some tomato cans to give themselves a reason to close the shop and set out on an adventure to New York, but not before Dolly slyly mentions two ladies that they should call on - Irene Molloy, the woman Horace wishes to marry and Minnie Fay, as well as promising to enter Ambrose and Ermengarde into a polka competition at a hotel as a chance for Ambrose to show Horace that he is suitable for his niece.

Meanwhile in NYC, Irene and Molloy have opened their hat shop when two men walk in pretending to be very rich - Cornelius and Barnaby who work as the clerks in Yonkers! When Horace and Dolly enter they both hide from their boss, but when Irene, who doesn't want to marry Horace accidentally mentions that she knows Cornelius, Dolly steps in to say that Cornelius may be a clerk by day but he's actually an NYC playboy by night, and a member of one of New York's most well known families. When Cornelius coughs while still in hiding the two clerks are almost discovered by their boss but Dolly saves the day again, with Horace storming out the shop knowing that there are two men hiding in the shop but, luckily, not realising they are his own clerks. Dolly suggests that the two men take the two ladies out for dinner at the Harmonia Gardens - the same hotel where the polka competition is being held, and she also teaches Barnaby and Cornelius how to dance. The gang of four are soon happily dancing away and go off to watch a parade together. Dolly is left alone and realises it's time to move on from her departed husband - she asks Ephram for permission to marry Horace and to give her a sign. She later catches up with Horace and convinces her to give her matchmaking another shot - arranging for him to come meet her at the Harmonia Gardens later to meet heiress Ernestina Money.

The date with Ernestina Money is a disaster - she is neither as rich or as elegant as Horace had been led to believe by Dolly and she soon walks out in boredom. Dolly soon comes in and sits with Horace at the dinner table, telling him throughout the dinner that she will not marry him - much to Horace's bemusement. 

Meanwhile, Cornelius and Barnaby have realised that they have ran out of money and have no way to pay for their dinner with the girls. However, they have a stroke of luck when a moment of confusion means they inadvertantly swap wallets with the wealthy Horace - who is unaware that they are also dining in the restaurant. They now have enough to pay for the girl's expensive dinner however Horace is left confused and embarrassed as he is left with an empty wallet. When the gang try to sneak out they are spotted by an enraged Horace who soon sees Ermengarde and Ambrose aswell - chaos ensues with the whole group ending up in the night court to account for their behaviour.

Dolly manages to get them all out of jail by convincing the judge that their only crime had been to fall in love after Cornelius, Barnaby and Ambrose all profess their love to their respective partners -but an angry Horace is left to pay all the damages after being found guilty. He declares that he would never marry Dolly if she was the last woman on earth and so she angrily bids him goodbye, typically having the last word by stating that she'll be living the high life anyway while he'll always be angry and lonely.

The dust has settled by the next morning and Horace has started to realise that actually he loves Dolly after all - but she stubbornly refuses to reconsider until she has a sign from her late husband. All of a sudden Horace repeats a phrase that was often spoken by Ephraim - convincing Dolly that he has given her a sign that it is ok for her to marry again and the show closes with her promising Horace that 'she'll never leave him again'.

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Uploaded linked items in this show include:

0102 Central Station - 18x33 0103 Central Station - 14x30 0104 Hoffman Hotel Exterior - 18x30 0105 Hoffman Hotel Exterior 14x30
0106 Yonkers Station - 18x33 0106B Yonkers Station 14x30 0248 Midwest Street - 18x34 0248B Midwest Street - 14x32
0252 Love from Judy Station - 18x32 0107 Yonkers Station - 14x30 G083 Hello Dolly Show Gauze 18x36