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Hello, Dolly! 
30 April to 2 May 2015

Picture
Picture
The cast of Hello Dolly, April 2015

HELLO, DOLLY! is the story of Mrs Dolly Levi's the glamorous, wise-cracking, indomitable matchmaker and her efforts to marry Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-a-millionaire, and her attempts to send his money circulating among the people like rainwater  as her late husband, Ephraim Levi, taught her. Along the way she also succeeds in matching up the young and beautiful Widow Molloy with Vandergelder's head clerk, Cornelius Hackl; Cornelius' assistant, Barnaby Tucker, with Mrs. Molloy's assistant, Minnie Fay; and the struggling artist, Ambrose Kemper, with Mr Vandergelder's weeping niece, Ermengarde.

HELLO, DOLLY! is an ebullient and irresistible story of the joy of living, glittering with happy songs, shining with loving scenes, alive with the personality of one of the most fabulous characters on the musical stage ... Dolly Gallagher Levi!

Classic musical numbers include: Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Ribbons Down My Back, Before the Parade Passes By, Elegance, It Only Takes A Moment and So long dearie.

Cast List (in order of appearance)

Mrs Dolly Levi : Anne Horemans
Ambrose Kemper : Will Trapp 
Horace Vandergelder : Jeremy Martin
Ermengarde : Kerry Elliott 
Cornelius Hackl : Nik Graham 
Barnaby Tucker : David Corder
Minnie Faye : Kirsty Elliott 
Mrs Irene Molloy : Sarah Cuff
Mrs Rose : Lynne Johnson 
Miss Ernestina Money : Sue Elliott
Rudolph Reisenweber : Steve Hanning 
Stanley (a waiter) : Beth Culver
First Cook : Michael Johnson 
Second Cook : Bruce Hill
Policeman : Angela Saville 
Judge : Peter May
Clerk of the Court : Chris Hill

Company of Townspeople
Robert Brett, Beth Culver, Jacqui de la Salle, Sue Elliott, Nicola Friggens, Judith Garratt, Steve Hanning, Bruce Hill, Chris Hill, Lynne Johnson, Michael Johnson, Peter May,
Denyse O’Donnell, Angela Saville and Pam Sutton


Orchestra
Key boards : Chris Moore and John Pountney 
Percussion : Neil Stevenson
Bass : Tom Marshall 
Behind the scenes
Director: Mark Godfrey
Director: Meryl Spinks 
Musical Director: Barbara Pountney
Rehearsal pianists: Chris Moore and John Pountney Stage Manager: Nigel Bowdidge
Stage Assistant: Ian Burridge
Sound and Lighting Design: Steve Bearpark 
Lighting Board: Sue Burridge
Prompt: Rosemary Culver 
Publicity: Jennifer Spencer-Charles
Scenery : Nigel Bowdidge Paul Lazell 
Props: Angie McGlashon
Costumes: Shirley Harris 
Wardrobe Co-ordinator: Sarah Cuff
Make up: Members of IMOG 
Front of House: Hilary Weal
Tickets: Jill Sowerbutts 
Box Office: The Four Vintners
Programme Design: David Aquino
Photos
Programme
The Principals
Anne Horemans
JeremyMartin
Nik Graham
Sarah Cuff
David Corder
Kerry Elliott
Will Trapp
Kirsty Elliott
Sue Elliott
Steve Hanning
Lynne Johnson
Angela Saville
Peter May
Chris Hill
Beth Culver


A Review of this show

Author: Tessa Davies NODA
It is lovely to see a society performing one of the more classical musicals, and an opportunity for me to see a show that I last saw in 1992!

This was quite a small cast but appropriate for the stage at this venue which does have some limitations.  One or two members of the ensemble could have had more lively facial expressions but, in the main, they performed well.  The Principals were well cast; Anne Horemans made an imposing Dolly, although some of the songs were slightly outside her comfortable vocal range, so we didn’t always get the full impact of the character.    Nic Graham and David Corder were excellent as Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker.  They made a great partnership and we got the sense of fun that is so important for these two characters.  Jeremy Martin (Horace Vandergelder) was also well cast although he had a tendency to speak most of his lines to the audience and not to his co performers.  This meant that we heard him clearly but there was a bit of a disconnection in the action on stage.

I would particularly compliment Kerry Elliot (Ermengarde) and Kirsty Elliott (Minnie Faye).  Both of whom produced terrific characterisations and were clearly comfortable on stage.  There were also nice performances from Will Trapp (Ambrose Kemper) Sarah Cuff (Mrs Irene Molloy) and Sue Elliott (Miss Ernestine Money).  Other speaking parts were played by members of the ensemble who doubled and (sometimes) tripled their characters; such is the need in a small company.

As is often the case, nowadays, the lack of males willing to go onstage has an impact, especially in shows like this which really need a number of male dancers.  The (normally) male chorus for the title song, Hello Dolly, was exclusively ladies but they looked good and performed well.   The small orchestra, under the direction of MD Barbara Pountney gave excellent support to the singers.

Scenery was excellent, I am a fan of one of the scenic designers used in this production (Paul Lazell) and his back cloths are always immaculate. Costumes were simply outstanding, I tried to find the name of the supplier but it does not seem to be in the programme, although there is a credit for Shirley Harris so well done if she supplied them.  As a costume specialist myself I appreciate the effort that went into the co-ordination of gloves, hats etc to the dresses.  It is these details that can make (or break) the look of a production, in IMOG’s case it definitely made it for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Ingatestone and I look forward to the next production.
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