Review: Hello, Dolly

	If you go WHAT: “Hello, Dolly!” WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23 and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24. Repeats March 29-31 WHERE: Rodey Theatre, Center for the Arts, UNM campus HOW MUCH: $20, $22 and $24 for the general public, $2 discount for students and seniors in advance at 925-5858, at www.unmtickets.com, at ticket offices in the UNM Bookstore or the Pit, at select area Albertsons supermarkets or at the door

Finnegan’s Dolly is a no-nonsense matchmaker and Jackie-of-all-trades, so to speak. Need to learn to waltz? Dolly will show you how. After all, a widow in turn-of-the-century Yonkers, N.Y., has to earn a living.

Finnegan carries this frothy romantic musical comedy with her out-sized, brightly costumed presence, her seemingly nonstop dialogue and her commanding singing voice.

The production is at UNM’s Rodey Theatre through March 31.

Dolly thinks she’s found a match for the charming hat shop owner-widow Irene Molloy (Erin Warden) in the wealthy, Scrooge-like Horace Vandergelder (Michael Finnegan). Wait a moment. Dolly has her own sights set on Horace as a mate.

The scheming Dolly goes to work. Lucky for Irene, a young man named Cornelius Hackl (Stafford Douglas) shows up and takes a shine to the older Irene. Cornelius happens to be Horace’s chief clerk. Cornelius woos Irene while his buddy Barnaby Tucker ( the athletic Matthew Amend) falls for Irene’s clerk Minnie Fay (Elora Daniels).

There are couple of very funny hide-and-seek scenes — one in Irene’s shop and another in the pricey Harmonia Gardens restaurant, where Cornelius and Barnaby are trying to avoid their boss. Horace thinks his clerks are back in Yonkers minding his hay and feed store. Irene and Minnie Fay don’t know the boys have little money to spend on them.

One of Dolly’s schemes to gradually reel in Horace is having Horace go on a date with the supposedly rich Ernestine Money (Cissy King, who momentarily outshines Dolly in her own garish, over-the-top dress.)

The restaurant scene has the kind of hilarity for which the Marx Brothers were known.

Dolly eventually lands her catch. Dolly has to make Horace think marrying her is his decision without spotting Dolly’s game. Finally, in the last scene, reluctant Horace decides. For me, his switch (it should have been a transformation) from reluctance to revelation came too late to be believable.

Hats off to Rosemary Gallegos and Joe Moncada for their period costume designs and Lynn Hall for her hair designs. The Daniel Cummings-led pit band was adequate. The set design looked like an afterthought and should, if possible, be ignored.