The Matchmaker

by Thornton Wilder

Farce / Casting: 9m, 7f / Interior Scenery

A certain old merchant of Yonkers is so rich in 1800 that he decides to take a wife. He employs a matchmaker a woman who subsequently becomes involved with two of his menial clerks, assorted young and lovely ladies, and the headwaiter at an expensive restaurant where this swift farce runs headlong into a hilarious complications. After everyone gets straightened out romantically and has his heart's desire, the merchant finds himself affianced to the astute matchmaker herself. He who was so shrewd in business is putty in the hands of Dolly Levi. He is fooled by apprentices in a series of hilarious hide and seek scenes, and finally has all his bluster explode in his face.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction, Theatre, Drama, Humor, Romance

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.

For more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton...

Reviews

[booklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with a mother who loved musicals and one of her favorites was Hello Dolly. Imagine my surprise when I was flipping through a collection of Wilder plays and discovered this was the basis of that musical. The characters and dialogue are largely the same. I can see how easy it was to adapt it to a musical with dancing as the characters talk about singing and dancing throughout. Most of the humor is there already and Dolly is fully Wilder’s creation. Very enjoyable! As different from Our Town as you can imagine. Makes me want to check out Wilder’s other works.

[Nada Khaled · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she is a householder.”

A WIFE is just a free SERVANT!
So let's marry, let's have a wife, let's get a free servant!
Most of the men think that way!
It doesn't depend on the culture, the writer is American and he thinks the same way ..

[Márta Péterffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Szerintem ez Wilder legjobb színműve, volt már előzménye, ahonnan merített, de itt van humor és báj is, nem annyira keserű. Úgy láttam, volt belőle előadás is, gondolom rövidítve, mert a darab fő hibája, hogy túl hosszú, néhol elvész a részletekben, didaktikussá válik.
Az életigenlés azonban komoly jellemzője, nem véletlenül készült ebből a műből a híres film, Barbra Streisand és Walter Matthau főszereplésével. Louis Armstrong dala pedig világhírű lett, szerettem a filmet, a dal miatt és a színészek miatt.
https://snitt.hu/filmek/hello-dolly-1969
https://www.youtube.com/watch… *

*A zeneszám több verzióban is megtalálható.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it purely as the source material for Hello, Dolly.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple plot , a simple story , a simple characters
normal start and Pleasant node and happy funny end .
it's a very simple book , a surprise is a 85% from Egyptian cinema in sixteens used this plot with the same details in movies .
and it's have a good chance that is the Original text has taken from it

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: I tell you for the hundredth time you will never marry my niece.

Premise/plot: The Matchmaker is a play by Thornton Wilder. Chances are if you hear the names "Horace Vandergelder," "Cornelius Hackl," "Barnaby Tucker," "Irene Molloy," and "Dolly Levi" you will likely think of the musical Hello Dolly and not The Matchmaker. But The Matchmaker obviously came first.

What should you know? It is FUNNY. It features more characters than the musical. (I really LOVED Malachi Stack and Flora Van Huysen. Malachi gets some of the best lines, in my opinion!) The ending is similar but not identical.

So for those who haven't seen the musical... Horace Vandergelder is a cranky old man who is about to make a big decision. He has decided to remarry. Just as emphatically as he's decided to marry, he's decided that his niece will NOT be marrying her fellow, Ambrose Kemper. Two of Vandergelder's clerks (he's a store owner) decide--on this momentous day--that they've had enough and deserve a day off. Not just any day off, but a day off in the CITY. One of them vows TO NOT COME HOME UNTIL HE'S KISSED A GIRL. Cornelius and Barnaby "happen" to meet Irene Molloy (Vandergelder's first choice) and her assistant, Minnie. The people seeking adventure get in over their heads. The people NOT seeking adventure get in over their heads too. By the end, one and all long for normalcy and routine.

My thoughts: If you ask me if I like the movie--well, I can get all the best scenes by watching Wall-E. But after seeing Hello Dolly live at my local theatre, well, my perspective changed a bit. Things that were slightly funny sitting at home watching the movie really become hilarious on stage. I walked out a FAN. The Matchmaker was a perfectly perfect read for me. And I loved coming across lines like, "Go and get your Sunday clothes on."

Quotes:
"It looks to me like you're pretty rash to judge which is fools and which isn't fools, Mr. Vandergelder. People that's et onions is bad judges of who's et onions and who ain't." Joe (the barber) to Mr. Vandergelder

"Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion." Mr. Vandergelder

"I tell you right now: a fine woman is the greatest work of God." Cornelius

"There's nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different from the world inside your head." Malachi

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the play that was eventually turned into the musical that became Hello, Dolly! I loved the movie adaptation and watch it at least once a year. This original play is different from the musical version. In the play, Earnestina Simple is mentioned but never seen. You also never see the parade Horace marches in. Instead, the final act takes place in the home of a friend of Horace’s first wife. Everything is resolved there, rather than back in Yonkers. But that didn’t stop me from reading the main characters in the voices of Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau, etc.
I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to everyone.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, hello Dolly - although the play is much better than the musical.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of my deep dive into Hello Dolly!’s source material.

Well staged, some likeable characters, rather forgettable and muddled ending that the movie adaptation (The Matchmaker 1958) chooses to sidestep (good move). There’s a clear evolution here between this version and previous iterations of the story that make it more palatable, whereas it’s Austrian predecessors were rather tiresome.

For fans of the film, you could - for the most part - use the play to read along, but there are lots of unique-to-the-play pieces of dialogue that make it worth reading just for their value.

Ambrose and Ermengarde were cut from the film, presumably for time and budget. I found them so endearing that I’m glad they returned in Hello Dolly!.

Barnaby and Cornelius play off each other well, as usual - there were plenty of moments were I was smiling at jokes and interactions. I’m noticing more and more that their antics are the main driving force that bring engagement to this story rather than the titular characters.

Dolly and Mr Vandergelder are - as they tend to be - rather difficult to find interesting or enjoyable as characters, as the time focused on them is so drawn out and honestly pretty boring, but they still have brief moments of interest. Irene and Minnie are unfortunately just as forgettable as well, but all are salvaged by the silver screen adaptations and musicals.

Unlike all the previous iterations of this story, this play would be worth picking up even if you weren’t a fan of Hello Dolly!.

[Donia Darwish · Rating 3 out of 5]

#الخاطبة من الأدب الأمريكى
مسرحية من مسرحيات #البرنامج_الثقافى #الإذاعة_المصرية
مدتها 4️⃣5️⃣ دقيقة حاجة كده فى الخفيف على قد وقفة فى شارع التسعين 😄🙋🏼‍♀️

مسرحية ساخرة إلى حد ما بتحكى عن
" جيلدر " راجل ستيناتى 6️⃣0️⃣ غنى قوى بس بخيل جدا قرر يوفر حبتين وابن الإيه فكر بدل ما يجيب خادمة للبيت
يتجوز ارخص واهى هتقوم بشغل البيت من غير ولا مليم …
طيب مين هيرضى به هيكلم " الخاطبة دولى " تشوفله عروسة 👰‍♀️ شابة حلوة ونغشة وقوليلها يا دولى أن جيلدر راجل كريم واه صحيح فى الستين بس القلب قلب شاب متين
بس يا جيلدر ما تأخذنيش ، سمعتك معروفة فى المدينة أنك بخيل … لازم تبقى لارچ وشيك وأنا هوقعلك عروسة 👰‍♀️ إنما ايه 👌🏻

الأداء الصوتى كان ممتاز 🤩 كله فى دوره المناسب له..
الرواية خفيفة بتتناول طبع البخل بشكل ساخر لطيف وبالرغم أنها بعيدة عن الجو المعتاد ليا إلا أنى حبيتها واستمتعت بها 💙

دور " الخاطبة دولى " ⬅️ صوت الفنانة عايدة عبد العزيز
دور " جيلدر " ⬅️ رشدى المهدى المعروف بالشيخ عتمان 😄

#صوتيات_دنيا
#قراءات_٢٠٢٢
#قراءات_أكتوبر_٢٠٢٢
#مكتبة_دنيا

[Yudit · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Matchmaker is a story I'm already pretty familiar with. Having seen the play as well as watched Hello Dolly! a fair amount of times I can tell you that the story is one that I enjoy. Having recently watched Hello Dolly! the first half of the play is pretty close to the musical. The last act is the one that differs the most from the musical which is kind of disappointing because that part was my favorite so I wished they had adapted it in the musical.
I was never a big fan of Thronton Wilder's play Our Town. I know that it is a play that is supposed to make you think more than to entertain, but I have never found it to be my cup of tea. But The Matchmaker is one that I would be willing to read and watch again. The dialogue is witty and the situations are comedic. Definitely a must read if you like plays.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can think just now is: I-have-to-see-this-play-I-have-to-see-this-play-I-REALLY-MUST-see-this-play! It's a truly ludicrous farce, worthy of all effort put forth on my part to see it. Envisionimg it as I read was difficult because I've seen very few plays --- and those they were only non-professionl school plays. Also, there are several scenes of utter chaos in which I was hopelessly lost, trying to keep all the characters straight while remembering exactly how the stage was set up. In conclusion: I-have-to-see-this-play-because-I-almost-split-my-sides-with-laughter-as-I-read-it. Highly recommended!

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Very enjoyable — Funny, political, dramatic, and profound. It was really a pleasure to read and I’m sure would be even better played out.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining read of the play and background story and changes to it. The growth and changes of the play from its initial failure in 1938 and its relaunch in the 1950s which was a massive success. Several things about the play changed and there were changes in the production that lightened it up. More recently were a few more changes that turned it into the movie and musical "Hello Dolly".

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really only knew this play from the much more popular musical version _Hello Dolly_. Because I don't care for musicals very much, I'm glad to say that this work is an enjoyable play in its own right. Wilder has backed away from the radical formal theatrical experimentation of _Our Town_ and _The Skin of our Teeth_; this is a much more conventional play in most ways: the sets are realistic, the cast stays fixed on the stage (not wandering out into the audience), and the action and plot are fairly straightforward (Wilder based this on a 19th-century German language play). Those things, of course, are _not_ entirely why I enjoyed reading the play (those who follow my reviews know that I appreciate absurdist theater very much, and also enjoy modernist/postmodernist experimentation). But there _are_ some unconventional things that Wilder maintains: first, there is the structure of the play, which is made up of FOUR acts (not three or two). Essentially these are four very long scenes, each taking place in a different locale; I suppose, when staging the play, the intermission would happen between the 2nd and 3rd acts. Second, Wilder continues to have his characters break the fourth wall and directly address the audience. In most cases this happens without the apparent knowledge of the other characters (so that these speeches could technically be considered soliloquies); however, the entire cast directly addresses the audience at the end in order to give the "moral" of the play. This device (the direct addresses to the audience) doesn't _entirely_ work, but is interesting. More importantly, the play is very funny, and contains some very nice satirical jabs at issues (mainly money/class issues) that are still relevant today. Much of what makes the play a "farce," besides the humorous dialogue, are cases of mistaken identity (and in once case, mistaken gender), which is an old trope that Wilder handles well. Like many stage comedies (particularly fast-moving ones), there are some issues of continuity that are problematic, but overall this is an enjoyable bit of theater.

[04meganb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Matchmaker is about nothing but romance. How families do not always like that person you fall in love with got whatever reason. Mr. Vandergelder's niece, Ermengarde, falls in love with Ambrose, a poor artist. They both love each other dearly and want to run away and get married. Mr. Vandergelder would like her to marry a smart young seventeen year old named Barbany. Barbany doesn't even want to grasp the thought of already getting married, And tries to convince Mr. Vandergelder that but Mr. Vandergelder ALWAYS gets his way, he thinks he can control everything. He is in his own love triangle between Ms. Malloy and Mrs. Levi. Ms. Malloy only wants to get married for the money. Mr. Vandergelder finally realizes that you cannot help who you fall in love with and accepts his niece's decision to marry an artist.

[Margery]

Yuchh...I HATE farce! I read this as part of a trio of Thornton Wilder's plays. I'm glad I read it only because of the tremendous contrast it has with Our Town (great) and Skin of Our Teeth (still in progress, intriguing). I can't believe all three were written by the same guy. Anyone interested in writing have any ideas about that?

Er, I don't know what to rate this. As a farce, I suppose it was...well-constructed...even if I hated reading it...

[وائل المنعم · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good farce adapted from John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce "A Day Well Spent" which had been extended into a full-length play entitled "Einen Jux will er sich machen" by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842.

Some sentences are very funny, the most lovely character are the last to appear "Miss Flora Van Husen", the only defeat is that a lot of things happen in the same time which didn't presented in away that clear its funny and joyful atmosphere.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed in conjunction with The Merchant of Yonkers and Hello, Dolly!

Based on an Austrian play that drew its inspiration from a one-act play by John Oxenford, The Merchant of Yonkers would later be repurposed by Mr. Wilder as The Matchmaker, which would in turn inspire the most famous of the group, Hello Dolly. Decades later, the Austrian play would be loosely adapted by Tom Stoppard as On the Razzle.

Confused yet? Yeah, me too.

Having read everything but Nestroy’s Einen Jux will er sich machen (which, to the best of my knowledge, has not been translated into English), I think my favorite of these related plays (and musical) is The Matchmaker. Wilder’s addition of Dolly adds a great deal to the tale of a curmudgeonly shopkeeper looking for love. I also thought The Matchmaker’s ending stronger than The Merchant of Yonkers’s. The two plays are remarkably similar until the last act, at which point The Matchmaker feels like a much-improved draft. The dialogue is snappier, the order more sensical, and Dolly’s closing monologue richer.

Hello, Dolly, in comparison, hits the ground running – both of Wilder’s productions spend too much time on the set up – but I found the resolution the weakest. Why the ending was streamlined from the humorous crossed wires of Wilder’s plays eludes me, as it would have played well with the musical’s overall tone.

One final note: It’s a shame the Barbra Streisand film is not better. The dance numbers, cinematography, and settings are gorgeous, and Streisand, despite being entirely too young for the role, has the talent to make the role sing (pun intended). Some of the casting decisions utterly derailed the production, particularly Walter Matthau as Cornelius. I generally like Matthau, but the age difference – and the decision to eliminate the longstanding friendship between Dolly and Horace – doesn’t reflect well on Dolly. In aging down Dolly, they needed to similarly age down Horace. James Garner would have been an excellent choice, as he could play the charming curmudgeon like nobody’s business.

Similarly, Irene needed a better comedienne, and it mystifies me why, when the 1960s had so many funny women, Fox opted for an unknown actress who seemed uncomfortable playing to the humor of the role.

In closing, now I really, really want to see Bette Midler play Dolly on Broadway. And I also think, in this age of remakes, bringing The Matchmaker to screen would not be the worst idea a studio could have.

So, yes, I do recommend reading all of these plays. It’s interesting to see how one idea and story can shift and change in the hands of different writers but also what remains throughout all of the iterations. Recommended.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it about authority figures that causes the world to touch their forelock respectfully? Writers have less cause than many people to be in awe of managers and senior businessmen, and yet such figures are still given a sympathetic hearing in most fiction.

Even when a businessman is vain, egotistical, bad-tempered, selfish or downright ruthless, the author will somehow soften his/her stance, and make allowances for the flaws of those who have attained the top of the hierarchy. Perhaps on some level, most of the population continue to somehow feel that a manager has attained their high position due to some degree of superiority to the rest of us.

In Thornton Wilder’s play The Matchmaker, that businessman is Horace Vandergelder. He is irascible, domineering and loud, but certainly no villain – merely the authoritative family member who stands between the lovers, and needs to be won over.

Vangelder wishes to prevent his mousy niece Ermengarde from marrying Ambrose Kemper on the grounds that Ambrose is an artist and has no fixed income. He plans to send Ermengarde to stay with Flora Van Husen, a friend of his late wife. However Ambrose discovers this plan, and hopes to persuade the timid Ermengarde to elope.

They are helped by another friend of the late Mrs Vandergelder. This is Dolly Gallagher Levi, the matchmaker of the title. She wishes to help the lovers. However her matchmaking is not just confined to helping others.

Aware that Vangelder wants to remarry for selfish reasons, Mrs Levi has agreed to find him a spouse. However her real intention is to marry him herself. She also is looking for a marriage of convenience. The leading romance of the play is therefore a cynical one about older widowed people who are willing to settle for comfort, rather than love.

There is also a sub-plot involving a couple of Vangelder’s employees, who decide to skip work, and unwisely head for New York, the same location as their employer. Naturally the large city proves to be a small world indeed, and the three groups of people will soon cross one another.

What follows is essentially farcical humour with no real substance, but it is certainly amusing enough. It was good enough to provide the material for the musical, Hello Dolly.

There are no serious themes on display here, and this is not really a work of literature. Viewed as a source of entertainment, the play works well on this level.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful little comedy and romantic farce that deserves to be better known, though I suppose it is indirectly, since it was the basis for the musical ‘Hello, Dolly!’ There are such great characters here, including Dolly Levi of course, and Wilder’s craftsmanship in the play’s structure and his humor are on full display. ‘The Matchmaker’ is clever and charming, and yet also manages to get in some commentary on love, the pursuit of happiness, and the role of money in those things. It’s a play that encourages “the aspirations of the young (and not only of the young) for a fuller, freer participation in life,” as Wilder himself put it, and it does so in the gentlest of ways. Very nice, and would be great to see performed.

Quotes:
On inherited wealth:
“The law is there to protect property, but – sure, the law doesn’t care whether a property owner deserves his property or not, and the law has to be corrected. There are several thousands of people in this country engaged in correcting the law. For a while, I too was engaged in the redistribution of superfluities. A man works all his life and leaves a million to his widow. She sits in hotels and eats great meals and plays cards all afternoon and evening, with ten diamonds on her fingers. Call in the robbers! Call in the robbers!”

On love, and trying to block it:
Vandergelder: “She’s trying to run away with a good-for-nothing and we’re preventing it.”
Cabman: “Oh, I know them, sir. They’ll win in the end. Rivers don’t run uphill.”

On money:
“Yes, we’re all fools and we’re all in danger of destroying the world with our folly. But the surest way to keep us out of harm is to give us the four or five human pleasures that are our right in the world,- and that takes a little money!
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, also, can shatter the world.
Money, I’ve always felt, money – pardon my expression – is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread about encouraging young things to grow.”

On solitude:
“There comes a moment in everybody’s life when he must decide whether he’ll live among human beings or not – a fool among fools or a fool alone.”

[K Stott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am continuing my dive through the plays that once belonged to my parents, former theatre nerds and aspiring stage actors, and the most interesting part is discovering that a lot of these plays (even ones I’ve never heard of) have been Broadway hits or even Hollywood Oscar winners (see: Butterflies are Free).

The Matchmaker has a long and winding history in theatre and film- in 1938 it was published as a re-write of several earlier (1835, 1842, 1938) comedies, under the title “The Merchant of Yonkers”. In 1954, the director Tyrone Guthrie (he of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, as well as founder of Ontario’s Stratford Shakespeare festival) wanted to do a theatrical run, and so Wilder rejigged it under the name “The Matchmaker”. The play was performed with Ruth Gordon (Oscar winner for Rosemary’s Baby) in a main role, which won her a Best Actress Tony nomination and Guthrie a Best Director Tony. The play was turned into a movie in 1958, starring Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine. In 1964, the play was rejigged as a musical and retitled “Hello Dolly”; Carol Channing performed in that theatre run. Finally, in 1969 it become a Barbra Streisand film under the Hello Dolly moniker!

The plot is classic screwball comedy, with outrageous and bumbling characters being drawn into coincidental encounters. Horace Vandergelder, a miserly and cranky (but rich!) Yonkers businessman has set his sights on remarriage to Mrs Molloy, a New York hat shop owner, and he is off to the city to woo her. Vandergelder’s two clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, are itching to get away from their boss for a night, and are also headed to the Big City to have an adventure. Vandergelder’s niece, Ermengarde, wants to marry her penniless artist beau, Ambrose Kemper, but lacks the courage to defy her uncle’s wishes- the two of them are headed to New York to maybe make a break for it. Finally we have Dolly Gallagher Levi, a widowed matchmaker, who is also heading to New York, all the time pulling strings that will result in happiness and marriages all around.

This was a light, fun read- I can see why it kept getting updated for the times. Now I just need to find out which streaming service carries the Streisand movie…

[Edward Cheer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder is a ribald farce that follows Cornelius and Barnaby as they rebel against their strict boss, Mr. Vandergelder, to go on an adventure and won't go home until they've kissed a girl! (Wait... that reminds me of Wall-E for some reason).

There's some social commentary on the issues with the upper wealthier class and gives a good moral on living an exciting life, all through some spot-on comedy and classic farce elements from older plays. It lends itself to some witty remarks, humorous moments of wisdom, and plenty of wacky situations that the likeable Cornelius and Barnaby keep getting stuck in. It's well-paced and well-written... well not entirely.

I do think that the ending was a bit too quick to my liking. The strings are too quickly tied, with some quick hand waves, and the moral is very obviously spelled out at the end too. The story is also a little predictable, but I think that's evened out by the comedy being as good as it is. However, some of the comedic beats are a bit dated, like Barnaby exclaiming, "Holy cabooses!" but it's more adorable and charming rather than cheesy.

I still think The Matchmaker is one of Thornton Wilder's better plays and one of the better farces you'll find out there in the vast library of farces. It's a definite recommend from me.

[Evi Routoula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Εντελώς διαφορετικό από τα άλλα δύο θεατρικά έργα του Γουάιλντερ, το Matchmaker είναι η ιστορία της Ντόλι Λέβι που ενώ αρχικά εμφανίζεται ως προξενήτρα, καταφένρει να γίνει η ίδια η νύφη και να παντρευτεί τον πλούσιο κύριο Βάντεργκελντερ. Μια ξεκαρδιστική κωμωδία με εκπληκτικές ατάκες όπως ¨το μέλλον είναι η πιο ακριβή πολυτέλεια που μπορείς να φανταστείς¨και ¨ο γάμος είναι η δωροδοκία για να κάνεις μια υπηρέτρια να γίνει νοικοκυρά¨.
Η Ντόλι, ο κύριος Βάντεργκελντερ, η ανιψιά του, ο εραστής της, οι υπάλληλοι του πλούσιου Βάντεργκελντερ, μια έμπορος καπέλων και η βοηθός της βρίσκονται όλοι μαζί στη Νέα Υόρκη και ζουν μια υπέροχη φάρσα.
Πάνω σε αυτό το βιβλίο του Θόρντον Γουάιλντερ βασίστηκε αργότερα το γνωστό μας ¨Hallo Dolly¨που παίχτηκε αρχικά στο Μπρόντγουει και μετά έγινε ταινία με πρωταγωνιστές την Μπάρμπαρα Στρέιζαντ ως Ντόλι Λέβι και τον Γουόλτερ Ματάου ως κύριο Βάντεργκελντερ.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know and love Hello, Dolly!, so I was glad to read the play on which it is based. I find it hard to read farce and appreciate how funny it is; so much of the comedy seems dependent on pace, inflection, and stage action. But much (if not all) of the humor comes through on the page.

Some of my pleasure also came from seeing how the musical picked up on moments in the play--not just the plot but also the themes. For example, when reading Dolly's monologue in Act IV, in which she compares the life she lived after Ephraim's death to a preserved oak leaf, dry and colorless, and how she realized that she needed to rejoin the human race in spirit, I could hear "Before the Parade Passes By," as well as one of Dolly's solos in the title song ("I was away from the lights of 14th St., and into my personal haze . . . ."). The bones of this play are really good, and I'd like to see it performed.

[Soraya Keiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

My third Thornton Wilder play in a row. I think this was my least favorite to read, but only because the actions seem so much more important live. This play is a comedy, and it would be better to see actually on stage. Mrs. Levi did have some interesting things to say about marriage and money and the adventures of our lives at the end though. Overall, I really do enjoy Thornton Wilder. This review sums him up nicely: "Thornton Wilder will survive... as long as there are people around who are willing to sit in something called a theater and be reminded of their common humanity."

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

7 men, 7 women

Delightful, well-written play. Set in 1880 NYC and Yonkers, Not nearly as dated as I expected it to be.

The set build itself doesn't look overly challenging, although one set has a trapdoor. Written in 4 acts, possible loss of continuity because of set changes (office to hat shop, intermission, then restaurant to spinster's house).

Good, even tempo, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought for sure I had read this back in my college theatre lecture, but no. I'm thinking now that I must never have seen Hello Dolly, either. Huh.

Well, it's a farce, and highly dependent on a bygone place and time. My imagination is not up to the challenge of visualizing all that lurking and cross-dressing and eye-rolling, but I guess it killed 'em back in the day. Ah, well, I bounced off of Our Town too; I suppose I'm just not a Wilder fan.

[غِيد آل غَرَب · Rating 4 out of 5]

بسيطة جدًا،، يتحدث الكاتب عن شخص بخيل جدًا تطرأ على باله فكرة الزواج من امرأة مدبرة لكي يتخلص من نفقات الخادمة وعدم مسؤوليتها في المصاريف، فيتوجه إلى الخاطبة، والتي هي أرملة، فتقترح عليه إحداهن، ولكن تفطن الخاطبة بأنها تقوم بخطبة وتزويج الناس فيما هي ما تزال وحيدة بعد وفاة زوجها، رغم قصر المسرحية لكنها تحتوي على الكثير من المعاني منها إن الانسان يسعى إلى حلول لتفادي الخسائر فيقع في خسائر أكبر وأعظم منها!!
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[Julian Munds · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's weird that the musical based off this play is more compelling then the play. Thornton Wilder's work is wordy. Lacking wit. Shallow, even callous. I don't by Vandergelder's unmotivated turn at the end, nor the creation of superfluous characters like Malachi and Van Huysen. Watch Hello Dolly, the characters are better, it's funnier, and not as uneven as this play.