London–Imelda Staunton offers more proof in the just-closing Palladium Hello, Dolly! revival that great roles lend themselves to any number of viable interpretations. And without question Dolly Gallagher Levi is that brand, courtesy of original creator Thornton Wilder and adapters composer-lyricist Jerry Herman and bookwriter Michael Stewart.
It may be that Carol Channing, the musical’s first title character, put an almost indelible stamp on the indomitable lady, but Channing’s onstage personality was always in some sense a cartoon, a powerhouse of theatrical glee and is usually presented in that style. For instance, there’s Bette Midler’s recent take, Midler attaining initial acclaim performing as the hilariously manufactured Divine Miss M. (Ethel Merman, for whom Herman designed his score, eventually played Dolly as Ethel Merman, which she always did whatever the character.)
Staunton, on the other deft hand – as well as on director Dominic Cooke’s deft hand – for the most part takes an unmissably different approach. Her Dolly is understated. This Dolly’s major characteristic is smiling benevolence. It’s her matchmaker’s aggressive sincerity that earns this Dolly’s exclamation point. Only in the second act, when she determines to land moneybags Horace Vandergelder (Andy Nyman), he of the vast Yonkers geld, does she throw subtlety to the wings and make like a marauding golddigger.
There are times during the first act and the early second act when Staunton’s Dolly becomes the observant narrator. There are even prolonged moments when Dolly comes close to disappearing while watching with good wishes Vandergelder’s delinquent staffers Barnaby Tucker (Tyrone Huntley) and Cornelius Hackl (Harry Hepple) court, respectively, milliner Irene Molloy (Jenna Russell) and her staffer Minnie Fay (Emily Lane).
This Dolly, though, is a touch slyer when undermining Vandergelder’s supposed future with boisterous Ernestina Money, for which the well-known half-millionaire is paying matchmaker Dolly. Incidentally, Vandergelder practically takes a first-act powder, only coming into his own when opening act two with “A Penny in My Pocket” and subsequently carrying on defiantly during the closing scenes.
It could be said that Staunton’s only occasionally sardonic sidewards glance is a perfectly reasonable approach. But is it as likely to wow ticket buyers as the more aggressively take-charge strategy? It very likely does for first-time Dolly attendees.
Not incidentally, slight changes appear to crop up in the script. A highpoint in Dolly’s progress from grieving over deceased husband Ephraim is the poignant speech she makes when asking his permission to move on. It seems that here the fervent request has been weakly rearranged, another chip at Staunton’s effectiveness. Also, much is usually made of huge laughs at Dolly’s voraciously munching Harmonia Garden dumpling after dumpling after dumpling after dumpling but not here.
The result is that rather than riding this Hello, Dolly! as a star vehicle, Staunton more closely resembles the leader of a highly efficient team, all the members going at their challenges with laudable aplomb. They’re immeasurably aided by set and costume designer Rae Smith, lighting designer Jon Clark, and sound designer Paul Groothuis. All the above contribute to the dazzle this Hello, Dolly! look-see gives off, as it always does.
If there is a standout-hero this outing of the classic musical (initial producer David Merrick must still be grinning somewhere), it’s choreographer Bill Deamer. Gower Champion, who had that assignment in 1964, set high standards, all of which Deamer meets and may even surpass in his staging of “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “Elegance.” In neither is Staunton shown prominently.
If he falters slightly, it’s with, of all pieces, the title song. Longtime fans know that a circular downstage runway is often the site of much ovation-sparking audience reaction. It’s surely understandable that Deamer might not want to repeat another man’s triumph, but he hasn’t found a similarly strong substitute finish.
What isn’t affected is the song’s musical bounty, musically supervised by Nick Skilbeck. Still true, it seems, is “Hello, Dolly!” being the last time a musical-comedy song topped the American Top 40 charts – in, of course, the Louis Armstrong version. (Prior to that, Broadway melodies were a bestseller fixture, with the country’s foremost singers fighting to introduce items from incoming shows. No more.)
It may be that “Hello, Dolly!” is one of the most venerated Great White Way songs and numbers – if not the most beloved – which is high Jerry Herman praise and, as reprised here, deserving of its exalted place in the Great American songbook.
