Tonight the curtain goes up at Windham High School auditorium on the opening of this year’s WHS musical “Hello Dolly!” Excitement is running high with students, faculty and parent/community volunteers who have worked tirelessly toward their goal to present a top-notch evening of musical theater for the Windham/Raymond community.

Last spring the WHS theater students wowed hometown audiences with the razzle-dazzle tap musical “42nd Street,” the premiere show in the spacious, new performing arts center. Directed by professional choreographer Jonathan Miele, “42nd Street” set a new standard of production quality for the WHS theater arts program. With”Hello Dolly!,” another long-running Broadway hit, director Miele gives WHS musical theater students, theater tech students, and student musicians a showcase for their talents.

“Hello Dolly!” tells the story of Dolly Levi, a matchmaker who has been hired to arrange a marriage for the wealthy widower Horace Vandergelder. Dolly, a widow herself, decides that Horace and his fortune would be her own perfect match. She sets out to discourage Mr. Vandergelder from pursuing a pretty, young widow, Mrs. Molloy. Instead she schemes to match milliner Mrs. Molloy and her assistant Minnie Fay with Mr. Vandergelder’s young clerks, Cornelius and Barnaby. An evening of dinner and ballroom dancing at the lavish Harmonia Gardens in New York City becomes the setting for grand musical comedy.

“Hello Dolly!” written by Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart, starred Carol Channing in 1964. She was succeeded by Ginger Rogers, Pearl Bailey, and Ethel Merman. The 1969 film version starred Barbra Streisand.

WHS’ Dolly Levi is junior Jazmin DeRice, a seasoned veteran of Windham Schools theater and musical performance groups. Jazmin has been doing theater with several of her castmates since seventh grade, and says ” that chemistry with old friends makes the stage work more fun. And working with Mr. Miele anytime is fun.” Other principals in the cast are Doug Butler as Horace Vandergelder, Sam Clarke as Cornelius Hackl, Kevin MacKaye as Barnaby Tucker, Ally Chase as Mrs. Irene Molloy, Katie Eastman as Minnie Fay, Chelsea Williams as Ermagarde, Brad Shepherd as Ambrose, and Jenalee Curit as Ernestina.

Costumer Weslee Evans is the show’s “Fairy Godmother.” She turns Salvation Army suitcoats, Goodwill ladies blouses, and discarded prom gowns into 1890’s Sunday best suits and gowns. Senior Ally Chase comments, “I love to dress in costumes I’ve only read about in period novels. The incredible creativity Mrs. Evans brings to her work on costumes has helped make the show come together for us.”

Set designer and lead builder Tom Vail oversees a dedicated crew who have worked for months on the detailed set, lights and sound. They include Rob Juergens, Frank DeLuca, Scott Gordan, WHS alumni Dave Pascarella and Ben Taylor, and students Ciaran Shaughnessy, Josh Coffee, and Zach Clements.

“Hello Dolly!” runs April 29, 30, and May 5, 6, & 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 30 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12. Senior citizens and children under 12 are $8. Student bargain show prices are $8 for Sat., Apr. 30’s matinee and Thursday, May 5’s 7:30 p.m. showing.

Reserved tickets may be purchased at WHS auditorium on Fri., April 29, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Wed., May 4, 5-8 p.m. and Thurs., May 5, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tickets available at the door one hour before performance.

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