Hello, Dolly! (musical)

This article is about the stage musical. For the film adaptation, see Hello, Dolly! (film).

Hello, Dolly!
1964 Broadway poster
MusicJerry Herman
LyricsJerry Herman
BookMichael Stewart
BasisThe Matchmaker
by Thornton Wilder
PremiereNovember 16, 1963 (1963-11-16): Fisher Theatre, Detroit
Productions1964 Broadway
1965 West End
1975 Broadway revival
1978 Broadway revival
1995 Broadway revival
2009 West End revival
2017 Broadway revival
2018 US tour
2024 West End revival
Awards1964 Tony Award for Best Musical
1964 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
1964 Tony Award for Best Original Score
2010 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival
2017 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical

Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1954. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.

Hello, Dolly! debuted at the Fisher Theater in Detroit on November 18, 1963,[1] directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick. It starred stage performer Carol Channing as Dolly Gallagher Levi, a role theatrical audiences of the world would forever associate with her.[2] The show moved to Broadway in 1964, winning 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Channing. The awards earned set a record which the play held for 37 years. The show album Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.[3] The album reached number one on the Billboard album chart on June 6, 1964, and was replaced the next week by Louis Armstrong's album Hello, Dolly![4] Louis Armstrong also was featured in the film version of the show, performing a small part of the song "Hello, Dolly!".

The show has become one of the most enduring musical theater hits, with four Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into the 1969 film Hello Dolly! by 20th Century Fox, which won three Academy Awards, including Best Score of a Musical Picture and was nominated in four other categories, including Best Picture at the 42nd Academy Awards.

  1. ^ "Hello, Dolly! – 1964 Broadway – Backstage & Production Info". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  2. ^ Dvornik, Teale (30 April 2017). "Theatre History: Hello Dolly". thebackstageblonde.co. Teale Dvornik. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  3. ^ Grammy Hall of Fame Award Archived 2015-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Albums (2010), Record Research, ISBN 0-89820-183-7, p.973