You never know what you can discover just by leisurely scrolling through YouTube. Why, just the other day I discovered something completely under that proverbial radar: a 2009 video record of the Moscow Operetta Theatre’s production of “Hello, Dolly!” And if you thought the Barbra Streisand film took too many liberties with the Broadway show, wait until you see this Russian reimagining of the musical comedy classic!
For starters, this production moves “Hello, Dolly!” from the 1890s to the 1920s, although the indefatigable Mrs. Levy looks like she’s wearing a 1980s-style pantsuit for much of the show. And forget about taking the train from New York City to Yonkers – this Dolly takes off in a zeppelin while singing “Just Leave Everything to Me,” the opening written for the film version.
On the whole, this “Hello, Dolly!” follows the show’s book, although curiously a new scene is added after the Harmonia Gardens mayhem when the cast is in a souvenir store selling miniatures of the Statue of Liberty. “The Motherhood March,” a first act song dropped from the film version, is inserted here.
The stage production has stylish backdrops for the Vandergelder store (a wall of canned goods) and Irene Malloy’s hat shop (a wall of mannequin heads wearing hats). Even the stuffed whale mentioned by Barnaby and Cornelius gets an animated cameo.
The classic tunes are staged with zesty high spirits. “Before the Parade Passes By” has squads of identically dressed dancers (a troop of Indian warriors, a line of balletic Scotsmen in kilts) creating the momentum of a grand march. “We’ve Got Elegance” is performed in a Charleston-style dance and the big title number has Dolly luxuriating in everyone’s attention while divine in a strapless black and silver gown that wouldn’t be out of place in today’s award show red carpet settings – though why there are Vegas-style showgirls backing up Dolly and the singing waiters for this song is unclear.
Elena Zaitseva is a vivacious Dolly who, like the grand dames of the stage and the young Brooklyn upstart of the screen, fuels the show with a surplus of charisma and glamour. The ensemble has an eager-to-please enthusiasm that is hard to dislike.
This video doesn’t come with English subtitles, but anyone familiar with “Hello, Dolly!” can easily follow the plot and recognize the songs. Maybe someday a properly subtitled version will turn up to help us non-Russian speakers fully share the fun.