Review: Hello Dolly!
Hello Dolly! is set at the turn of the 20th Century; an era before social media and a time when ‘marrying into money,’ or finding a beau with a steady income, was understood as the ‘right’ thing to do. Fortunately, as Hello Dolly! was written in the 1960s, the musical has several contemporary twists. The simpering, weeping young woman, who just wants to marry her beau, is a figure of fun. The eligible ‘half-a-millionaire’ widower, Horace Vandergelder, may claim to be seeking a bride to keep his house clean, but he eventually realises that what he really wants in his life is a fun-loving and strong wife. And the title character is a vivacious and resourceful widow who has decided to begin her life again, and wants to use her future husband’s money to ‘spread a little happiness around.’
Miranda Selwood is excellent as the gregarious Dolly Gallagher Levi: relishing the comic lines as she pulls out yet another business card that is perfectly suited to the latest opportunity, rocking the red-sequined sparkle as a nightclub chanteuse, and establishing Dolly as a woman not to be meddled with. Selwood can sing, act, and dance, and is so very well-cast as the larger-than-life matchmaker, meddler, opportunist, and life-loving woman. Particularly memorable moments for me included Selwood’s ‘So Long Dearie,’ ‘Before the Parade Passes By,’ and ‘Hello Dolly!’
All of the members of the supporting cast have their chance to shine. Warryn James is a great choice for the role of the mean man of means, who begins to realise that he does not want to marry the quirky heiress. The Harmonia Gardens restaurant scene was enlivened by the amusing character performances by Sofie Christofis (as the heiress, Ernestina Money) and Jordan Ross (as the maître-d, Rudolf). I enjoyed Katyia Wills’s portrayal of the milliner’s assistant, Minnie Fay, and just wish that I could dance as well as Wills. Zach Price was excellent as the naïve and anxious Barnaby Tucker, in a great partnership with Wills and, separately, with Vandergelder's chief clerk. And, although the script only provides limited opportunities for the performers playing the young people who just want to get married, Stephanie Lee-Steere entertains as the weeping Ermengarde, and Samuel Hocking is believable as her anxious young beau, Ambrose Kemper.
It is perhaps unfair to have favourites, but my two favourite Hello Dolly! supporting actors are Katelyn Suschinsky (Irene Molloy) and Conor Ensor (Cornelius Hackl). Suschinsky is an excellent musical theatre actress, with a beautiful voice and strong stage presence. Ensor is well-cast as the energetic, funny, adventurous and innocent Hackl. It was so lovely to see these two actors sing and dance together, and to enjoy their portrayal of a young romance—including in the charming ‘It Only Takes a Moment.’
Picture: Miranda Selwood is excellent as the gregarious Dolly Gallagher Levi. Image credit Sharyn Hall (NB NOT A Creative Futures Photography image).
Picture (L to R): Warryn James and Miranda Selwood. Image credit Sharyn Hall (NB NOT A Creative Futures Photography image). (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture (L to R): Conor Ensor and Katelyn Suschinsky. Image credit Sharyn Hall (NB NOT A Creative Futures Photography image).
Members of the dance ensemble work incredibly hard in this show, as Hello Dolly! includes a number of lengthy dance numbers—including the memorable ‘Waiters' Gallop,’ and almost-show-stopping restaurant ‘Hello, Dolly!’. My congratulations to Bec Swain (Choreographer), and to each of the members of the dance ensemble (Kayleigh Bancroft, Rebekah Collins, Alanah Giles, Kim Kee, Ashley Pankhurst, Angela Schoemaker, Melanie Southall, and Kylara Swain). Congratulations also to the full ensemble; it is always great to see a show that gives opportunities to the hard-working ensemble, filling the stage with their moves and voices (David Bancroft, Sonja Bancroft, Aiden Cobb, Graham Colehutt, Chloe Evans, Jacob Ewan, Sally Faint, Jeremy Harris, Gillian Kristensen, Dylan Noll, James Riley, Ben Webb, and Amy Winner).
We came away from the evening full of praise for the Director (Kristen Barros), Choreographer (Bec Swain), costume designers (Cody Newnham and Kim Heslewood), Assistant and Vocal Director (Julie Eisentrager), Orchestra, and Musical Director (Jacob Cavanough), as the creatives have together brought the best out of their cast and musicians in what is possibly one of the best pieces of work that I have ever seen by Savoyards’ cast and creatives. My only ‘but’ is that Hello Dolly! is not a musical that will be in my top 100 list. The award-winning show has lengthy dance numbers, extended musical reprises, and a script that has not, in my opinion, stood the test of time; and it will be a while before I get the Hello Dolly! earworm out of my head. However, none of that stops me from recommending this show, as the cast and creatives absolutely deserve every moment of the warm applause that they received on opening night.
Audience information: Hello Dolly (27 September-11 October), IONA Performing Arts Centre. 85 North Rd, Lindum QLD 4178. 165 minutes, including a 20-minute interval. All ages. Some bright lights and loud noises. Tickets $35-58, or $149 family tickets (2 adults & 2 children), all ticket prices plus $1.45 processing fee.
Credits: Book by Michael Stewart with Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman. Based on the play "The Matchmaker" by Thorton Wilder. "Hello, Dolly!" is presented by permission of ORiGiN TM Theatrical on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC, A Concord Theatricals Company.
The reviewer attended the opening night performance (7:30pm, Saturday 27 September 2025).