SYNOPSIS: " and what do you do for a living, Mrs. Levi?" asks Ambrose Kemper in the first scene of that most delightful of musical comedies, Hello, Dolly! "Some people paint, some sew... I meddle," replies Dolly and we are on a whirlwind race round New York and Yonkers at the turn of the century as we follow the adventures of that most mischievous matchmaker, Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi.
Hello, Dolly! is the story of Mrs. Levi's efforts to marry Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-millionaire, so that she can send his money circulating like rainwater, t not her late husband Ephraim Levi taught her. Along the way she also succeeds in that matching the young and beautiful Widow Molloy with Vandergelder's head clerk, Cornelius Hackl; Cornelius's assistant Barnaby Tucker with Mrs. Molloy's loop assistant, Minnie Fay; and the struggling artist Ambrose Kemper with Mr. Vandergelder's weeping niece, Ermengarde. Mrs. Levi tracks Vandergelder to his hay and feed store in Yonkers, then by train back to Mrs. Molloy's hat shop in New York, out into the streets of the city where they are all caught up in the great 14th Street Association Parade, and then to the most evident and expensive restaurant in town, the Harmonia Gardens, where Dolly is greeted by the waiters, cooks, doormen and wine stewards in one of the most famous songs in the history of American musical comedy, "Hello, Dolly!"
What happens in the end? Dolly gets her man, of course. And he is delighted she caught him. Dolly leaves the stage at the end of Act II with a wink to the audience as she takes a meat peep into Vandergelder's bulging cash register and promises that his fortune will soon be put to good use. She quotes her late husband Ephraim, " Money, pardon the expression, is like manure, it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow."

Hello, Dolly! had opened at the St. James Theatre on January 16, 1964 with a cast that featured Carol Channing (Dolly), David Burns (Horace), Charles Nelson Reilly (Cornelius), Jerry Dodge (Barnaby), Eileen Brennan (Irene), and Sondra Lee (Minnie Fay). The show won 10 Tony Awards and ran for 2,844 performances, briefly holding the record for the longest-running Broadway production before it was overtaken by Fiddler on the Roof. With a score by composer-lyricist Jerry Herman and a libretto by Michael Stewart, it tells the story of a shrewd widow who brings young lovers together and finds a husband for herself (a cranky Yonkers store owner, Horace Vanderguilder) in 1890s New York.

The role of Dolly was first offered to Ethel Merman, but she was still recovering from her long run in Gypsy, and declined. This opened the way for Carol Channing to take on the most memorable role of her career.
During the Broadway run, Ms. Channing was succeeded by Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Bibi Osterwald, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller, and Ethel Merman (who had originally turned down the role.)

PERIOD AND COSTUMES:
Turn of the century: New York City and Yonkers. Bright, cartoon costumes of the dress and styles of the period. (Ruffled dresses, large hats, parasols, striped pants, vests, spats, waistcoats), shopkeeper smocks, horse costume, green waiter suits with white aprons, floor-length evening dresses, lodge uniform, tights, high-button shoes, parade costumes (police, sports club, dance-hall girls, opera Association etc.), male formal suit and evening cape, "Hello, Dolly" evening dress, sailor dress, traveling clothes for ensemble.

CASTING:
14 parts, 7 principals. plus various non-speaking roles, chorus and dance ensemble.
* Dolly, engaging female arranger, accomplished character woman who also sings, minor dancing.
* Horace, strong-willed character man, sings.
* Ambrose, sings in one number.
* Cornelius and Barnaby, comics who sing and dance well.
* Irene Molloy, legit voice, minor dancing.
* Minnie Fay, dancer who sings.
Large male dancing chorus. Large singing chorus of males and females who also do minor dance steps in company numbers. Total cast, 34-50.

Scenes and Settings
The action takes place in Yonkers and New York City in the 1890s.
Act 1
Scene I: Along Fourth Avenue, New York City. _Scene 2: Grand Central Station. _Scene 3: A Street in Yonkers. _Scene 4: Vandergelder 's Hay and Feed Store, Yonkers. _Scene 5: The Yonkers Depot. _Scene 6: Outside Mrs, Molloy's Hat Shop. Water Street, New York City. _Scene 7: Inside the Hat Shop. _Scene 8: A Quiet Street. _Scene 9: Fourteenth Street.
Act 2
Scene 1: In front of the Hoffman House Hotel on Fifth Avenue. _Scene 2: Outside the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant on the Battery. _Scene 3: Inside the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant. _Scene 4: Tableaux Vivantes._Scene 5: A Courtroom on Centre Street. _Scene 6: The Hay and Feed Store, Yonkers.