"Hello Dolly!" At DMTC

Left: Mary Young as Dolly Levi.


A week ago, at intermission, I asked a sometimes-YPT player to comment on "Hello Dolly!" He sighed, and said he didn't understand it. I thought incomprehension occurred because the events take place a century ago, and those ways are now old and quaint. But seeing the show on Friday, I realized that it was actually quite hard to follow the show's exposition: several audience members in the front row also complained.

The voices of several of the lead players were just too quiet for the audience to achieve complete understanding. You might listen to a sentence with 14 words, but if only 12 words are understood, then meaning gets lost.

In general, I like DMTC's decision not to rely on amplified voices, because then the players aren't dependent on fault-prone microphones to make themselves understood. Nevertheless, there are times when that decision should be opened to discussion.

There were some good moments, though. There was one point where Carina Summers aspirated a "p", and she was so loud her voice echoed from the metal pillar holding up the ceiling!

Left: Bows. I'm glad David Holmes is back from 3.5 years in oblivion. Where was that oblivion? Rio Rancho, New Mexico! Wait a minute - I'm from neighboring Corrales, New Mexico, so does that mean I come from oblivion too? Banish the thought!