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“The Matchmaker” Is the Play That Became “Hello, Dolly!” On stage at American Players Theatre, Wisconsin native Thornton Wilder's play is an old-fashioned but well-made farce that was later adapted into the 1964 Broadway hit.

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by Mary Wisniewski
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Actors on stage in period costumes perform a dramatic scene in a restaurant setting; two dine at a table left, while four others hide behind a privacy screen on the right, some crouching on the floor.

American Players Theatre’s “The Matchmaker”/Photo: American Players Theatre

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To enjoy a play like “The Matchmaker,” at American Players Theatre, you must adjust your expectations.

This is not serious fare. It’s not “King Lear,” or even “As You Like It,” the Shakespeare comedy now playing on another schedule at American Players Theatre’s outdoor Hill Theatre.

Written by Wisconsin native Thornton Wilder, “The Matchmaker” is a well-made farce, though old-fashioned and smelling a bit of mothballs. The heroine’s goal is to manipulate a crabby, wealthy man into marrying her.

However, if you suspend your modern sensibilities, and if you can remember that this is not “Hello, Dolly!” the musical, “The Matchmaker” is a fine time at the theater, with a talented cast, gorgeous Victorian costumes by Tracy Dorman, good slapstick comedy and a leading lady who radiates wit and joy.

Directed by Brian Cowing, the play stars American Players Theatre veteran Tracy Michelle Arnold as Dolly Gallagher Levi, a professional meddler who likes to arrange other people’s lives. A curmudgeonly Yonkers merchant, Horace Vandergelder (Triney Sandoval), has hired her to find him a wife in New York. Meanwhile, Horace is trying to stop his niece Ermengarde (Kelly Simmons) from eloping with an artist (Jonathan Gardner). “Ninety percent of the people in the world are fools,” Horace growls. “And the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.”

Also tied up in Dolly’s machinations are Horace’s two clerks, Cornelius (Colin Covert) and Barnaby (Trevyn Wong), who take advantage of their boss’ wife-hunting to have a holiday in the city. Here they meet a milliner, Mrs. Irene Malloy (Phoebe González), and her wide-eyed assistant Minnie (Ama J. Kuwonu).

It’s no surprise that many characters are paired up at the end. But the journey is fun, with people hiding behind screens, in closets and under tables.

A woman in a Victorian-era costume with puffed sleeves, a large hat, gloves, and a parasol stands on a stage set with wooden chairs and doors, looking thoughtfully to the side.

American Players Theatre’s “The Matchmaker” with Tracy Michelle Arnold/Photo: American Players Theatre

You need genuine star quality to pull off this silliness and Arnold has it. She has a wonderfully expressive face, and every smile and tilt of the head suggests her character’s intelligence and good humor. “Isn’t the world full of wonderful things?” is a line that echoes through the story, and Dolly knows it. She wants to share her joy in life, even if she has to drag everyone else along.

Sandoval is also excellent, blustery as a summer storm, with big comic gestures. Gonzalez is queenly and rebellious as Irene, eager to bust out of her hat shop and order every expensive thing on a restaurant menu. The other young people are also charming—particularly Simmons, playing a porcelain doll of a girl who wants to elope yet avoid all impropriety. Karen Janes Woditsch is a hoot as sentimental Aunt Flora, dressed in a flowery robe that matches her other furniture. Brian Mani is great as the free-wheeling Malachi, auditioning Horace as an employer.

The play has a long history. A one-act version called “A Day Well Spent” dates back to 1835. It was later expanded into a full-length play by an Austrian playwright, which Wilder Americanized in 1938 into “The Merchant of Yonkers.” Wilder rewrote the play in 1954 to make Dolly the main character, renaming it “The Matchmaker.” It was remade again into the 1964 Broadway hit “Hello, Dolly!” and became a musical theater classic.

The link to “Hello, Dolly!” was a little distracting—I was unreasonably disappointed when the action suggested a song and the song didn’t come.

But even without music, the heart of the play is the same. It’s about people seeking adventure and a break from the routine of their work-a-day life—whether they’re young people finding romance for the first time, or mature people taking another shot at love before the parade passes by. You can’t help but root for Arnold’s Dolly, and for all these ridiculous people to find their make-believe happiness, out under the Wisconsin stars.

“The Matchmaker” at American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green, Wisconsin, through October 2.