BOTM - The Matchmaker

[Aleta]

The Post-1900 Comedic Play groupread for February is The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder from 1954.

Short Summary: 1800s, Yonkers, New York. A rich merchant decides to hire a matchmaker to find him a wife. But he doesn't foresee falling in love or the romantic entanglements of his two store clerks or his own niece. Plenty of "hide and seek", a hat store and a restaurant feature prominently.

Background Info: The one-act farce "A Day Well Spent" (John Oxenford, 1835) became the basis for the Austrian play "Einen Jux will er sie machen" (Johann Nestroy, 1842) which then Thornton Wilder americanized in 1938, calling it "The Merchant of Yonkers". The play was unsuccesful and only ran 39 performances, but 15 years later a director expressed interest and Wilder rewrote it, extending Dolly Levi's role and calling the play "The Matchmaker". In 1964 it became the musical "Hello, Dolly!" and 5 years later Gene Kelly directed the musical film version of it, which starred Barbra Streisand.

[Aleta]

Another quick read. It was fun and easygoing, but not perfect. The first two acts are great, but the second two didn't make a whole lot of sense to me and I felt the movie 'Hello, Dolly!' did those better. Anyone clear on why Mrs. Levi thought it a good idea for the niece and Ambrose to go to the restaurant when Mr. Vandergelder would be there? I don't remember how the movie explained it, but I do remember not being confused about her reasoning.

I've previously read Wilder's novels The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Woman of Andros, both of which I loved. I think he's an amazing writer and while The Matchmaker is not his best work, I could still sense the writing that made me love those books.

There were some quotable moments, one of my favorites being when Mrs. Molloy says "All the facts about you are insults."