Hello, Dolly, a musical by Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman, is a light-hearted romantic comedy, that left all Hewitt families, faculty, and students raving about it after the showings last Thursday and Friday. We first meet Dolly Levi, a lively and experienced woman who Isabelle Davis ’15 played. We then find out that she is a matchmaker, and is currently searching for a wife for bad-tempered Horace Vandergelder (Lexi Glicksman’16) a prominent half-a-millionaire living in Yonkers, New York. When she is on her way to catch the train, she meets Ambrose Kemper, acted out by Chloe Lipman ’17, who is in love with Ermengarde (Emily Dunetz ’17), Vandergelder’s niece. Later, Dolly takes Ermengarde to the city to take her mind off Ambrose. Barnaby Tucker, played by Skye Malik ’15 and Cornelius Hackl ,played by Morgan Van Kesteren ’17, are left to watch over Vandergelder’s shop while he is away. The two adventurous young men are not content, so they decide to take a journey of their own to New York. They meet Irene Molloy (Saira Khan ’17), and Minnie Fay(Julia Dunetz ’15) , two fun-loving women working in a hat shop; meanwhile, Vandergelder was with Ernestina Money, a women who Dolly set up for him. Later on, Horace Vandergelder admits that he needs Dolly, and she finally commits to marry him. This play was enjoyable to watch because it was executed exceptionally.
The costumes were one of my favorite parts of the play because they were very authentic and gave us a taste of the fashion and styles in the beginning of the 20th century. In one of the numbers, Dolly came out wearing a gold dress that completely stunned the audience.
The singing was outstanding, and all of the songs were very catchy and well-versed. The music had everyone in the audience tapping his/her feet and singing along. One of my favorite songs that was sung that night was “Hello, Dolly!”. The tune was catchy and the lyrics helped to describe who Dolly was and how everyone was excited to have her back in town. Another song that I enjoyed was “It Takes A Woman”. It talks about women having to “clean out the drain in the sink” and how “it takes a female for setting the table…”. It was interesting to hear that song because it describes traditional roles that women played around the household; this song is particularly important to us as an all-girls school because everyday you can see Hewitt girls breaking down barriers.
The choreography went along perfectly with the music. The dance numbers were performed phenomenally. Ms. Lindberg, Ms. Van Kesteren, the cast, and the crew really put together a spectacular show. All of the performers blew me away with their talent. I was so overwhelmed and captivated by the play. I did not want to miss a second of it. Congratulations to everyone that was a part of this brilliant performance. You should be proud of yourselves because all of the hard work clearly paid off. Taylor Sitomer ’18 feels the same way: “It was great to see everything come together. It was better than I ever imagined it to be.” Bravo!
