It’s Dolly’s world and we just live in it.

Commanding the stage and the audience is pitch perfect Aimee Doherty as conspiring Dolly Levi who sings for her supper as a successful matchmaker.  A shrewd businesswoman, Dolly sees what life can hold for everyone else in Yonkers and beyond, but her confidence wanes when it comes to a second chance at love.

With innovative direction by Maurice Emmanuel Parent, uplifting Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez and buoyant choreography by Ilyse Robbins, Lyric Stage Company of Boston continues Golden Age classic musical Hello, Dolly! live and in person through Sunday, June 22.  This immersive musical’s action is not limited to the stage and runs approximately two hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

Having seen other versions of Hello, Dolly! before, I’ve always been impressed by the charm of fast talking and resourceful Dolly Levi.  However, this particular production integrates modern and classic elements by having Dolly Levi not only at the cast’s service, but yours as well.  Making a bustling entrance, Doherty passes out her business card to members of the audience and occasionally shouts out her services as the musical progresses and she always makes a sale.

It also infuses modern elements without losing the Golden Age atmosphere while satirically commenting on outdated ideas of a woman’s role in society.  At one point, Joshua Wolf Coleman as Horace Vangergelder quotes one of his late wife’s expressions, ‘Marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she is a householder.’  Hello, Dolly! delivers a bit of tongue in cheek humor through clever bits of improvisation from a contemporary perspective.

Janie E. Howland cleverly makes the most of the space and the expansive nature of New York through multilevel staging, a worn sign of Yonkers on one side of the stage and Grand Central on the other punctuated by a sprawling map on New York on the ground.  Images of the Statue of Liberty and the sparkling George Washington Bridge stands out in the distance while a glittering gold and black wrought iron staircase sits center stage adorned with Dolly’s signature white feather.

From tap to ballroom to a polka to lithe and athletic choreography, Robbins keeps this musical showcase lighthearted and lively especially demonstrated through a humorous Waiter’s Gallop, the patriotic Motherhood March, the elegance of Dancing, Put on Your Sunday Clothes and the its dazzling title track. 

With contagious steely eyed conviction and unrelenting confidence, Aimee Doherty shines as Dolly Levi who can hustle with the best of them.  Her first velvet maroon and black gown, one of many stylish gowns of the Victorian era, shares some similarity to Mary Poppins, another dynamo problem solver who can make anything happen.  Boasting an array of feathers, detailed parasols, lace, sequins, fans, boots, bustles and three piece suits, but costume designer’s Kelly Baker’s sharp and meticulously detailed floral hats are showstoppers.  

Doherty shares some amusing scenes with Joshua Wolf Coleman as gruff and old fashioned rich widower Horace Vandergelder who often do not see eye to eye as Dolly has been hired to find him a match.  Coleman demonstrates old fashioned practicality through the upbeat It Takes a Woman.   Meanwhile, Max Connor as Barnaby and Michael Jennings Mahoney as Cornelius work for Horace and make a naïve and humorous duo, longing for adventures of their own. Kristian Espiritu delivers a dreamy rendition of Ribbons down my Back and shares giddy chemistry with Mahoney as Cornelius.  With flabbergasted facial expressions enough to make you laugh, Mark Linehan is a bit of a scene stealer as hilariously snooty frazzled head waiter Rudolph.

The show is also campy and the over the top excitement can be fun, but might not work for everyone.  Hello, Dolly delivers a number of madcap high jinks, but also genuine heart in the cast’s earnest search for love.  Featuring a few characters who are widowed, it is just as much about matchmaking as it about a second chance at love.   Having not seen this musical for many years, this wistful aspect seems more prominent in all of its adventurous optimism.  Doherty delivers a stirring rendition of Before the Parade Passes Me By with a building hopefulness and authenticity longing to truly embrace life again.     

   

Lyric Stage’s Hello, Dolly may inspire you to forget your troubles for little while and immerse yourself in Dolly’s world.  Mahoney as Cornelius at one point also delivers a tender rendition of It Only takes a Moment and wondrously proclaims, ‘Isn’t the world full of wonderful things?’  It just might help you notice them too.

Lyric Stage Company of Boston continues Golden Age classic musical Hello, Dolly! live and in person through Sunday, June 22.  Click here for more information and for tickets.