Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. It was first produced on Broadway in 1964, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical and nine other Tonys. The show album Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. The show has become one of the most enduring musical theatre hits, enjoying three Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into a 1969 film that was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
It tells the story of Mrs. Dolly Levi's efforts to marry Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-a-millionaire, and send his money circulating among the people like rainwater the way her late husband, Ephraim Levi, taught her. Along the way she also succeeds in matching up the young and beautiful Widow Molloy with Vandergelder's head clerk, Cornelius Hackl; Cornelius' assistant, Barnaby Tucker, with Mrs. Molloy's assistant, Minnie Fay; and the struggling artist, Ambrose Kemper, with Mr. Vandergelder's weeping niece, Ermengarde.
Hello, Dolly! is full of memorable songs including Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Ribbons Down My Back, Before the Parade Passes By, Elegance, Hello, Dolly!, It Only Takes a Moment and So Long, Dearie. And we are off on a whirlwind race around New York at the turn of the twentieth century, as we follow the adventures of America's most beloved matchmaker!
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- What a wonderful show.
- What a pleasure it is to see young people achieve such standards. You must be very proud of them and the staff who guide them. Of course we expected (from past experience), and heard, such very good singing - from leads and chorus - but the other parts of the production were also of such a high standard. I thought the choreography was terrific. The stage management was slick and well drilled. However, I would reserve my highest praise for the orchestra. I thought they were outstanding.
- Thank you the production team and to the cast for such an enjoyable evening
- I'd just like to say how much I enjoyed the school's 'Hello Dolly' show tonight - the cast all did brilliantly! It was also great to see Susan Boyle come along to show her support.
- Well done to all involved.
- Please can you pass on my congratulations to the cast for their outstanding show tonight? There wasn't one failure in the entire show, from the orchestra, to sound, to stage hands, but most importantly the unbelievably talented cast, I've been doing shows for years (even played Barnaby Tucker many years ago), but this blew me away tonight, you should be extremely proud of your outstandingly talented pupils, they truly were a joy to watch and total credit to the school-well done each and every on
- Can I say how much my husband and I enjoyed the performance last night? The acting especially and the high quality of the set design greatly enhanced the performance. Also the high standard of direction and production including choreography was evident throughout the performance. I am glad that Kirkhill are able to supply future performers for these productions. I know we spoke about one but another member of my staff was there and she counted a total of 7 ex Kirkhill young people. Please pass on our congratulations to the whole team and good luck for tonight's performance.
- ...thank you as usual for a superb show. They do get better and better. Please convey my congratulations to the cast and crew and staff. I enjoyed it very much, especially as Hello Dolly is one of my favourite Louis Armstrong numbers from back to my childhood.
- I shall be keeping my eye out for future productions...
- The school show was absolutely brilliant so congratulations to all who were involved. My family really enjoyed it and loved the comedy.
- Great job again - you all work so hard for this show and it was great! Your dedication to the pupils in this school is amazing and highly commendable. The dancing, singing, acting and music were brilliant.
- I just wanted to thank you for the invite to the school show last week. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and was completely blown away by it - so much so that I've told anyone that will listen all about it. It was a great way to gain an insight into the ethos of the school.
- As you know, I always find that the school show is one of the highlights of the school year for me and this year was no exception - each year I wonder if the hugely high standards can be kept up and I am never disappointed. The talent of the pupils involved is quite frankly staggering - they are to be commended for putting so much time, effort and hard work into putting on a performance that makes the audience feel as though they're at a West End show. However, without the dedication of so many staff and other pupils behind the scenes, who are prepared to give of their own time, voluntarily, to make the production such a success, the pupils themselves could not reach the standards that they do. The band was tremendous, adding to the excellence of the whole thing. I could go on of course (and usually do!), stunning costumes, scenery etc. etc....
- Again, I know I have a reputation for being "a little emotional", but I confess that the production left me with a tear in my eye - it fills me with pride to see how good Broxburn Academy can be - all the difficult stressful times go out the window and you're left with the enormous buzz of what was a genuinely outstanding show.
- A massive personal thanks from me, but I'm sure the whole community would be so proud to see what can be achieved when a team of people with true dedication to the "broader education" of children, not just the passing of exams, decide to devote their time and talents to a school production, which in my opinion, is second to none.
- Thanks to everyone involved for another wonderful evening of entertainment.
- ...absolutely fabulous!!
- A huge congratulations to all those involved!
- Well done to all concerned, brilliant show we thoroughly enjoyed it.
