The Matchmaker
at Dominion High School

Reviewed on December 5, 2015

Alexa Tucker
Westfield High School
Submitted for publication to Washington Post - Loudoun

"Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are fools, and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion," Mr. Vandergelder grumps. The cynical and miserly old man may think himself "free of foolishness," but runaway employees, cases of mistaken identity, and unexpected love will prove him wrong in Dominion High School's lively and amusing production of The Matchmaker.

Thornton Wilder, best known for his play Our Town, turned away from the aforementioned play's heavy drama with the lighthearted and humorous The Matchmaker. Originally published in 1957, Wilder adapted The Matchmaker from his 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers. As Wilder's most successful play on Broadway, it was later adapted into a musical entitled Hello, Dolly! The musical also enjoyed great success, winning 10 Tony Awards in 1964.

In The Matchmaker, the rich shop owner Mr. Vandergelder wants to find love. Unfortunately, love is hard to find for a man who is too cheap to even buy chicken and wine at a restaurant, so he employs the help of the titular "matchmaker," Dolly Gallagher Levi. Meanwhile, Vandergelder's niece elopes with an artist, and two employees named Cornelius and Barnaby decide to ditch work and go on an adventure. They get tangled up with hat-maker Mrs. Molloy, Mr. Vandergelder's intended wife, and in the middle of it all, the matchmaker makes Mr. Vandergelder a match – with herself!

Nathan Herbert portrayed the stingy Mr. Vandergelder with hilariously over-the-top movements and finessed comedic timing. Herbert took advantage of many small moments to add humor to the show, such when he checked his reflection in a spoon while eating dinner in a fancy restaurant. As the gossipy and eccentric Dolly Levi, Annie Begley garnered huge laughs with her exaggerated accent and extravagant gestures as she carried out her subtly conniving schemes.

Alexander Melio brought youthful energy and charm to the role of Cornelius Hackl. His interactions with his best friend and coworker Barnaby Tucker, played by Noah Belachew, were believably playful as he persuaded him to abandon work and pursue adventure – and women! Emily Wilson, as the cheerfully domineering Mrs. Malloy, immediately established a connection with Cornelius even as she bossed him around and scolded him for "ruining my reputation." As Ermengarde, Stephanie Whitehouse's adorable confusion added to the hilarity of mistaken identity in the final scene of the play as she was repeatedly told that she was not, in fact, Vandergelder's niece.

The simple yet effective set individualized each setting in the play with distinctive attributes. Mr. Vandergelder's home emphasized his close-fisted nature with its barren and almost poverty-stricken appearance, contrasting strongly with Mrs. Van Huysen's more elegantly furnished and decorated home. Sound cues, such as doorbells ringing and tomato cans exploding, were well executed and skillfully incorporated.

Dominion High School provided "just the right amount of adventure" in their riotous production of The Matchmaker, proving that there is no true cure to foolishness. As Dolly Levi proclaims in the final scene, everyone has only two choices: to live as a fool amongst fools or a fool alone. "And as for me," Dolly concludes, "I decided to live among them."

Scott Burrows
West Springfield High School
Submitted for publication to Washington Post - Loudoun

Where do mistaken identity, cross dressing, and marriage meet up right in the center of New York City? In Dominion High School's fantastic production of The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder. The All-American farce that serves as the inspiration for the Tony-winning musical Hello, Dolly!

The story follows Dolly Levi as she uses her charm, and whit to set up relationships with her friends as well as get married herself with one, wealthy Mr. Vandergelder. A loud obnoxious man, and the so called "Merchant of Yonkers," who's over-worked, underpaid workers, Cornelius and Barnaby set out in search of adventure and a kiss from a girl in New York City. Where they meet Ms. Malloy, the mature sophisticated owner of a women's hat store, whom Cornelius finds himself hopefully attracted to. At the same time Vandergelder's niece is planning to elope with her artist boyfriend which he forbids but Dolly finds a way to get all of the relationships to work.

Mr. Vandergelder is played by Nathan Herbert, who does a grand job setting the tone of the play. With fast dialogue and witty observations, he sucks the audience into the story immediately and keeps us going the entire time. Annie Begley spectacularly embodies the character of Dolly. She makes this potentially unlikable character one of the most charming, charismatic, and lovable people in the show. Right up alongside her is Alexander Melio as Cornelius. He is a charming, hilarious guy who conveys a fun, lovable dork who is way out of his depths in the big city. Accompanying him is buddy Barnaby, played by Noah Belachew, who gets dragged along for the ride, showing off beautiful comedic timing and adorability. The object of Cornelius's desire, Ms. Malloy, portrayed fantastically by Emily Wilson, is also exceptionally funny. By having beautiful chemistry with Cornelius, she makes for a wonderful performance, forcing him into even more trouble and even getting a bit crazier as the night goes on. Furthermore, the rest of the cast is made up by hilarious side characters who all do a great job further conveying the plot and having unique lovable personalities, creating a united feel with the period and style of the show. They all had wonderful energy and active physical choices that suck the audience right into the story.

The sets were a beautiful, creating attractive 17th century housing and providing a real, interactive environment for the actors to work with. The crew incorporates the different unique scenic elements that the cast was not afraid to use. Such as real food and drink, creative entrances, and incredible costumes that all fit the period and told the story in a fun way. The scenery may only break for few moments with scene changes, but besides that stays in character and consistent throughout the show.

Dominion high school's the matchmaker is a wonderful show full of energy and laughs. It deserves praise from all who may be lucky enough to see it.

Hannah Thomas
W.T. Woodson High School
Submitted for publication to Patch.com - Loudoun

With forbidden love, mistaken identities, and adventure, Dominion High School brought a thrilling performance of the classic Matchmaker. A story with a long and rich history, this play was originally derived from the one act entitled A Day Well Spent by John Oxford which in turn also inspired the musical Hello Dolly!

Vandergelder, a rich merchant from Yonkers is trying to find a wife but Dolly Levi, who he hires to help him find a wife, has her own plans in the works. He is also dealing with a niece who resides in his care that has fallen in love with an unsuitable man as well as two clerks who want nothing more than to step out of their lives in Yonkers and into an adventure.

Charming from his first entrance, Alexander Melio's character, Cornelius, captured the audience's hearts. He controlled scenes with his oomph and powerful line delivery. Balancing confidence as well as the tenseness of being discovered in New York by his employer, Melio developed a dynamic character on stage.

Equal in vigor was Cornelius's right hand lady, Mrs. Malloy performed by Emily Wilson. Huge not only in bustle size but in personality, Wilson did not hold back on stage and gave us a lovely depiction of a woman tired of being confined to her hat shop. When she finally broke free, you could practically see her wings spread, ready to take flight.

Reaching back in time to the late 1800s, the set helped to transport the play. Utilizing individual flats and a few larger portable set pieces, Annie Begley and Kyle Johnson were able to transform the stage into four completely different settings including different furniture, color themes, and accent pieces. While certain pieces, such as the electric fairy lights in the restaurant scene, occasionally pulled the story out of the time period, for the most part little touches, such as the stove in the first scene, transported the audience back in time.

Dolly Levi, the professional arranger gave the play its name; Matchmaker. Beautifully captured by Annie Begley, Dolly couldn't help but stick her nose in everyone else's business. Mischievous and charismatic, Begley's vigorous character shined through both little moments and monologues alike.

Another well-deserved shout-out goes to Noelle Hunter who beautifully embodied not one but two unique characters. First appearing as Gertrude, an elderly lady, she made her way across the stage with slow but deliberate movements. Feisty and hard-of-hearing, Hunter milked the writing for her character and got some well-deserved chuckles from the audience. By the end of Act II Hunter had transformed into an Irish Cook, accent and all. Once again, she added well to the scenes with energy and kept up the difficult accent with ease.

While the play as a whole was engaging and vivacious, the fight scene in the restaurant stood out as the energy climax of the play. The cast utilized the full limits of their theatre space all the way to the edge of the stage and even off into the audience. Each character in the scene seemed to be a coil of pent up energy ready to explode. The chaos, while choreographed, was organic and gut-wrenchingly hilarious.

Dominion High School delivered a performance of this classic story with ease and energy.

Maggie Klein
Oakton High School
Submitted for publication to The Torch

What's in a marriage? Dominion High School's recent production of The Matchmaker explored the importance of love, money, and adventure in relationships as unlikely couples came together in this hilarious tale of mishaps and marriages.

The Matchmaker, a play by Thornton Wilder, originally began as John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent that was extended into a full-length Austrian play entitled Einen Jux will er sech machen. The play was Americanized into the Broadway comedy The Merchant of Yonkers, which was then rewritten to become The Matchmaker, and later, the beloved musical and film Hello, Dolly! starring Barbra Streisand.

Set in Yonkers, New York in the 1880s, The Matchmaker follows the titular character Dolly Levi, a meddlesome marriage broker who was hired by the stingy, widowed Horace Vandergelder to find him a wife. Dolly, who wants to marry him herself, takes Mr. Vandergelder on a wild goose chase throughout New York City to find a bride, where run-ins with Vandergelder's clerk, who has fallen in love with the woman Vandergelder was planning on marrying, and his eloping niece who has run away, complicate the situation further.

Chock full of slapstick moments involving men dressing as women and people being shoved into closets, the show's comedy was what made it memorable. Good comic timing and the high physicality of the actors brought the already amusing script to life. These laughter-inducing scenes combined with the asides several characters delivered throughout the play engaged the audience and for the most part, helped further draw them into the story rather than distract from the plot.

As the matchmaker herself, Annie Begley's portrayal of Dolly Levi was impressive. With animated facial expressions and varied vocal choices, Begley tackled the role with enthusiasm and did an exceptional job making the character's complex objectives clear to the audience.

Other noteworthy performances included Alexander Melio as Cornelius Hackl, Mr. Vandergelder's clerk longing for love and adventure, and Emily Wilson as Irene Malloy, the hat shop owner he falls in love with. Melio brought liveliness and charisma to the role of Cornelius Hackl and was responsible for inducing many of the show's laughs as well as consistently keeping the energy level up. Wilson truly stood out as Mrs. Malloy; her actions were both purposeful and funny, and she managed to be energetic and comical without overacting or losing the credibility of her character.

Being set in New York, most of the characters had strong accents. While a few characters slipped out of their accents from time to time or had enunciation issues, the accuracy and consistency of the majority of the actors' accents was admirable. Additionally, the actors projected their voices well and there were few problems hearing what was going on.

The set was fairly simple and traditional, but it was effective in enhancing the story. Despite some slow scene changes, the set was aesthetically pleasing and very detail oriented. Specifics such as the many intricate hats in Mrs. Malloy's shop and the furniture and portraits in old Mrs. Van Huysen's house enriched the world of The Matchmaker. Furthermore, the set was utilized well to advance the plot. The actors interacted well with the set by hiding in closets, peering out of windows, and using an area underneath a staircase as a basement.

Ultimately, the cast and crew of Dominion High School brought enthusiasm and humor to this entertaining show. Everyone found their match, even if it wasn't who they were expecting, in this solid performance of The Matchmaker.

Mavis Manaloto
W.T. Woodson High School
Submitted for publication to The Torch

From nonstop romance from three unusual couples to unhinged plans complete with conspiracies and cross-dressing, "The Matchmaker" at Dominion High School gave the audience one rollercoaster of hilarious adventure.

Written by Thornton Wilder in 1953, "The Matchmaker" tells the story of an old merchant, Horace Vandergelder, looking for love again with the help of a wildly amusing matchmaker, Dolly Levi. Add in Vandergelder's clerks, two lovely hat-making ladies, Vandergelder's niece and her fiancé in 1880's Yonkers and New York City, New York to get an intensely entertaining full-length play that will leave you in tears. "The Matchmaker" ran on Broadway in 1955 with a total of 486 performances, winning a Tony Award for Best Director and a nomination for Best Actress. This play was also adapted into the hugely successful musical "Hello, Dolly!"

This production of "The Matchmaker" succeeded in featuring many of Dominion High School's strong actors. With such comical characters to build upon, the 21-person cast did a wonderful job of bringing them to life onstage with such high energy and impeccable comedic timing.

Annie Begley's charismatic portrayal of Dolly Levi brought on many laughs from the audience. The high energy was consistent throughout the show from Begley, and her enthusiastic meddling created a hysterical atmosphere. Another standout performance came from Alexander Melio as Cornelius Hackl, one of Vandergelder's clerks. Melio succeeded in presenting a charmingly lovesick man full of adventure, and when paired with the adorably naive Noah Belachew (Barnaby Tucker), they both set up a hilariously believable friendship.

Emily Wilson also gave a noteworthy performance as Mrs. Irene Molloy, conveying her character with such a mature and confident nature that was also able to bring comedy to the scenes at just the right time. The irritable, stingy Horace Vandergelder was set forth by Nathan Herbert, who did justice to the character with his onstage business and largely uproarious outbursts. While some actors had inconsistent accents, their skills when presenting a monologue kept the audience engaged the whole time.

While not everyone's makeup was effective, the makeup crew did succeed in making the older women look aged. The spotlights during the monologues of various characters also helped draw the attention to the right place. Although set was simple, the cast interacted with the colorful set and made it purposeful. The scene changes were drawn out at certain points, but the cast picked up the scenes right as the lights went up.

"The Matchmaker" at Dominion High School left the audience an important lesson: at the end of the day, life is all about taking risks and having just the right amount of adventure.