People's Light and Theatre Company presents Thornton Wilder's 'The Matchmaker'

Let’s just call it a good play, showcased in People’s Light and Theatre Company’s splendid revival, inspiring us to both laugh and think.

Though best known today as the basis for the musical Hello, Dolly!, The Matchmaker (despite flopping in 1939 as The Merchant of Yonkers) was a success in 1954, when actress Ruth Gordon convinced Wilder to try again. It’s seldom performed today, perhaps eclipsed by Wilder’s two other major plays, or because of the large cast required. So director Abigail Adams’s bright production is a rare treat.

Farce and more

Graham Smith plays Horace Vandergelder, the irascible merchant who contracts Dolly Levi (Kathryn Petersen), a self-described “woman who arranges things,” to find him a new wife in Manhattan. He’s set on cynical hat-shop owner and hat-hater Irene Molloy (Teri Lamm, in a particularly superb performance), but Dolly has other plans. Vandergelder’s clerks Cornelius (Brandon Meeks) and Barnaby (Christopher R. Brown) view their bosss’ rare absence as an opportunity for a big-city adventure. “We’re going to have a good meal,” Cornelius vows. “We’re going to be in danger, and we’re going to get almost arrested, and we’re going to spend all our money. And one more thing: We’re not coming back to Yonkers until we’ve kissed a girl!” Meanwhile, Vandergelder’s niece Ermengarde (Mina Kawahara) runs away with artist boyfriend Ambrose (James Ijames).

Inevitably, they all converge in Manhattan’s swanky Harmonia Gardens restaurant, and shenanigans ensue when Cornelius and Barnaby realize they have no money for the dinner they promised Irene and her assistant Minnie (Tabitha Allen).

While this 2.5-hour play could be trimmed down to a taut farce (if copyright, ethics, and good sense allowed), Wilder indulges in philosophical soliloquies, often about love and money. Even a relatively minor character like Peter Pryor’s tipsy servant Malachi opines about the morality of theft: “The law doesn’t care whether a property owner deserves his property or not,” he muses, “and the law has to be corrected.” He also considers the proper amount of vices a man should have (one), and remarks, “If a man has no vices, he’s in danger of making vices of his virtues.”

The plot doesn’t require these speeches, but The Matchmaker would be hollow without them. Moreover, Wilder’s ideas, though the play is set in the 1880s and was written nearly 80 years ago, are surprisingly relevant today: “Money,” Dolly says in an often-quoted speech, “is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread about encouraging young things to grow.”

Bright and fun

As always, People’s Light lavishes its resources onstage. Even the smallest roles are played by veteran, award-winning company members: Peter DeLaurier and Stephen Novelli play waiters; Mark Lazar, a cabman; Marcia Saunders plays two different maids; Melayne Finister doesn’t speak until Act Four. They all balance the commitment good farce requires with Wilder’s sparklingly positive worldview.

Liz Filios writes and performs original music for the production and executes live sound effects with musician Melanie Hue. The entire cast plays instruments and sings as well; attending their pre-show concert is recommended.

Set designer Tony Straiges’s witty set holds tall white walls decorated with period pictures and the name of each location, highlighted by lighting designer Dennis Parichy to tell us where each scene occurs. Marla Jurglanis’s elegantly colorful costumes capture the period, as well as the characters’ means and tastes – they’re real people, not fashion models. As I advise for all plays, try not to wish this play were something different. Embrace The Matchmaker on its own terms, and enjoy a rarely seen American classic by one of our great playwrights.