| LYRIC STAGE PRESENTS
JULIE JOHNSON IN
HELLO, DOLLY!
APRIL 25-MAY 10, 2008
 Lyric
Stage, Dallas County’s only locally produced professional
musical theater company, closes its fifteenth season with Jerry
Herman’s Broadway blockbuster HELLO, DOLLY! April 25-May
10, 2008 in the Irving Arts Center’s Dupree Theater. Tickets
are available by calling 972-252-2787 or CLICK
HERE TO ORDER TICKETS ONLINE.
When irrepressible matchmaker Dolly Gallagher
Levi is hired to arrange a marriage for the miserly half-millionaire
Horace Vandergelder, she finds him the perfect mate –
herself! But first she must win the heart of her unsuspecting
“husband to be” before he gets hitched to somebody
else. Brimming with joyful tunes from “Put On Your Sunday
Clothes,” “Before the Parade Passes By” and
“It Only Takes a Moment” to the irresistible title
song, Hello, Dolly! is a delectable treat for musical theater
lovers of all ages.
Dolly Gallagher Levi was not kidding when she
sang “Dolly’ll never go away again” to the
waiters of the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant. After opening at
Broadway’s St. James Theater on January 16, 1964, HELLO,
DOLLY! ran until December 27, 1970. Since the original production,
DOLLY has enjoyed three Broadway revivals: in 1975 starring
Pearl Bailey, in 1977 with Carol Channing reprising her signature
role and in 1995 with Channing bringing Dolly back for one last
spin.
Producer David Merrick and director/choreographer
Gower Champion were turned down by several musical theater stars
when casting the role of Dolly for the original production.
But after Carol Channing took Broadway by storm as the meddling
matchmaker, the leading ladies lined up to play part. Channing
was followed on Broadway by Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty
Grable, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller and Ethel Merman (who had
originally turned down the role). Mary Martin played Dolly in
the National tour, in London and, at the request of President
Lyndon Johnson, in Vietnam for U. S. combat troops. For most
of the soldiers, HELLO, DOLLY! was the first live Broadway show
that they had seen.
For Lyric Stage’s production, North Texas’ favorite
diva Julie Johnson is Dolly Gallagher Levi. Ms. Johnson is a
Theater World Award winner for her New York debut performance
in Das Barbecu. Joining Ms. Johnson is Brad Campbell as Vandergelder,
Lyric Stage Founding Producer Steven Jones as Cornelius Hackl,
Catherine Carpenter Cox as Irene Molloy, Michael Madrinkian
as Barnaby Tucker and Arianna Movassagh as Minnie Faye. The
DOLLY company includes Beth Albright, Jeff Bailey, Alicia Bullen,
Vicki Dean, Keeli Denney, Mary Rose Duncan, Francis Fuselier,
Kay Fuselier, Cris Galvan, John Garcia, Carlos Gomez, Andy Gosnell,
Alan Hanna, Brian Patrick Hathaway, Summer Kenny, Kelly McCain,
Jonathan McCurry, Delynda Moravec, Nicholas Morris, Carly Rosemore,
Kristi Rowan, David Lee Staggers, Greg Tucker and Vernicia Vernon.
Cheryl Denson directs with music direction by Alan Shorter and
Choreography by Cherrilane Blackburn.
Tickets, priced from $24-$30, are available by calling the
box office @ 972-252-2787 or CLICK
HERE TO ORDER TICKETS ONLINE. Performances are
Thursday through Saturday evenings @ 8 PM with matinees on Sundays
@ 2:30 PM and Saturday May 10 @ 2:30 PM from April 25-May 10,
2008.
"A musical comedy dream. The musical
numbers are solid gold brass!" - NEW YORK HERALD
TRIBUNE
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