‘Hello, Dolly!’ @ North Texas Performing Arts
Photos courtesy of NTPA Rep
—Hannah Kneen
From Broadway to film to a stage near you, Hello, Dolly! seems to come around more frequently than the birds of spring—this time to NTPA Repertory’s space at Willow Bend Center of the Arts, where it runs through April 4.
You might have seen Barbra Streisand take on the starring role in the movie, you might have seen the musical before— or somehow, this might be entirely new to you. Whatever camp you fall in, Dolly! is not a story that lets you walk away unaffected.
Based on Thornton Wilder’s popular stage farce by the name of The Matchmaker, the story (with book by Michael Stewart and music/lyrics from Jerry Herman) follows the meddlings of one Dolly Gallagher Levi, an accomplished and well-loved “woman who arranges things.” Dolly is played by Kim Harris, who does an absolutely superb job in the role, skillfully handling everything from the iconic songs to the raucous comedy to the more delicate emotional moments of the plot.
Set in New York (and the outlying town of Yonkers up the Hudson) at the turn of the 19th century, the show starts by introducing us to the titular character. We discover that just as “some people paint, some sew,” Dolly meddles. And she is very good at what she does. However, it seems that for this particular escapade she is meddling on behalf of herself as well. A widow who intends to “rejoin the human race”—in part by re-marrying—she has set her sights on miserly and misanthropic “half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder, played by Jimmy Jenson. Jenson makes a wonderful counterpoint to Harris’s energetic Dolly, and there is never a dull moment when they’re on the stage together. Widower Horace is under the impression that Dolly’s trying to find him a second wife…but there’s way more going on.
At the same time that Dolly is scheming to fix herself up with Horace, his two hardware-store clerks in Yonkers, Cornelius (Brandon Mora) and Barnaby (Hank Ryan), are getting into mischief of their own. With Horace heading for a day in NYC (to meet Dolly and the lady she’s picked for him), they decide they’ll go to New York themselves for a one-day spree (they’ve never been!)—and they “won’t come back until we’ve kissed a girl.”
By coincidence (and there’s a lot of that in Dolly!) they barge into the shop of Horace’s “date” for the evening, the milliner Irene Molloy (Donovan Marie Lawson)—who (despite being a hat-maker) hates hats—and her assistant Minnie (Paige Wenger). Lawson’s Irene is very charming; she and Cornelius pair up quickly, as do Minnie and Barnaby—and the foursome set off on foot (but with “Elegance”). to the popular Harmonia Gardens restaurant, the same place Dolly is supposed to meet Horace for his introduction to Minnie.
And well…hijinks ensue. How could they not?
The tech in this show was a little hit or miss. Nick Mann (who also directs this high-energy show) and Lisa Rodenbaugh deserve kudos for their lovely costume design, and Natasha Wakim’s choreography is impressive and ambitious, though it has moments when it works and moments when it doesn’t quite hit the mark. As for Melissa Winton’s set design, the bare wall in the background makes the scenes when there were no set pieces—but lots of colorfully dressed people—look a little incongruous, though at other times, the rotating cubes are quite versatile in delineating different scenes.
By and large I enjoyed the sound of the show as music director Preston Page designed it and there are some strong voices in the cast; Kim Harris and Brandon Mora in particular stood out to me in that regard. I expect that most of the little tech mishaps were a result of the show finding its groove that night, and will likely improve as the show’s run progresses.
Particularly if you’ve never seen Hello, Dolly!, I really do recommend it. It is a remarkably sweet story with very “hummable” tunes—and sent me away feeling warm and fuzzy. It maintains a beautiful balance between funny and sincere and carries a poignant message.
Dolly, a practical woman with a huge heart, explains to us near the conclusion of her scheme that it’s really been about finding love and finding life again—for all of them—even if the path looks as if it’s “just” about money. She says, “The difference between a little money and no money at all is enormous, and can shatter the world! And the difference between a little money and an enormous amount of money is very slight, and that can shatter the world too. It’s all in how you use it. As my late husband Ephraim used to say… Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around, encouraging young things to grow!”
WHEN: March 27-April 4, 2026
WHERE: NTPA, Willow Bend Center of the Arts (Rodenbaugh Theatre), Plano, TX
WEB: ntparep.org
