Hello Dolly

Hello Dolly!

The Story

meeting with Mrs Molloy and so Dolly drops into the conversation another possible match, Ernestina Money, an heiress. The only problem for Horace is Dolly has made her up! Horace agrees to meet both women in New York, leaving Chief Clerk Cornelius and assistant Barnaby in charge of the store.

Dolly Gallagher Levi is a widowed New York socialite, matchmaker and general fixer and she has been hired to arrange a marriage for wealthy feed store owner Horace Vandergelder. Dolly, however, has other plans. She believes Horace and his half a million dollar fortune would make a perfect match - for her!

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Upon arriving in Yonkers to arrange the marriage, she begins to plant seeds of doubt in Horace's mind about hat shop owner Irene Molloy, the pretty young widow she had picked out for him. Horace though insists on

Conrnelius and Barnaby have other ideas, however, and decide to sneak off for their first peak at the big city. Unfortunately for them their travels lead them to the very street where Vandergelder is headed . Hoping to escape his notice, the pair slip into Irene Molloy's hat shop, the same place their boss will soon enter!Mayhem soon ensues as Irene, her assistant Minnie Fay and Dolly attempt to hide the boys from Horace who decides his soon-to-be-bride

Spying a spark of attraction between Cornelius and Irene Dolly encourages the two wayward Vandergelder employees to take Irene and Minnie to dinner at the fashionable Harmonia Gardens. Reluctantly, at first, Irene and Minnie agree.

is hiding a roomful of strange men and announces his intention to meet with Ernestina Money at the 14th Street Parade.

Meanwhile, at the 14th Street Parade Horace Vandergelder gets a nasty shock when the darling of the 14th Street Parade turns out not to be Miss Money after all. He nearly heads back to Yonkers there and then but Dolly isn't finished with him yet and convinces him that he should meet Miss Money, and herself, at the Harmonia Gardens.Things don't improve for Horace on arrival at the restaurant. Miss Money is not at all what he expects (Too much rouge!), the restaurant is expensive and Dolly is (he thinks) late.

As if the plot were not complex enough, Dolly is also arranging a marriage for Ermengarde, Horace's niece, to Ambrose, a poor artist, and part of her plan is to convince Horrace that the marriage is a good idea.

This results in the shows climax, with Dolly arriving to much excitement from the Harmonia Gardens staff, Ermangarde and Ambrose in a dance contest, Cornelius and Barnaby being caught by Vandergelder (in New York and with their boss' former fiancee) and Horace in jail following a scuffle!All ends well, however, with Cornelius finding happiness with Irene and Barnaby with Minnie Fay and with Dolly convincing Horace that Ermengade should marry Ambrose and that he should marry her.

The copyright in all of the photos on this page belongs to the photographer, David Poucher. Please do not attempt to copy them.

Chesterfield Operatic Society was founded in 1905 and we are proud to still be performing more than 100 years on!President: Mr. George Kenning We're on http://www.britinfo.net