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\u2019s production of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d 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!
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For starters, this production moves \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d from the 1890s to the 1920s, although the indefatigable Mrs. Levy looks like she\u2019s wearing a 1980s-style pantsuit for much of the show. And forget about taking the train from New York City to Yonkers \u2013 this Dolly takes off in a zeppelin while singing \u201cJust Leave Everything to Me,\u201d the opening written for the film version.<\/p>\n
On the whole, this \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d follows the show\u2019s 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. \u201cThe Motherhood March,\u201d a first act song dropped from the film version, is inserted here. <\/p>\n
The stage production has stylish backdrops for the Vandergelder store (a wall of canned goods) and Irene Malloy\u2019s hat shop (a wall of mannequin heads wearing hats). Even the stuffed whale mentioned by Barnaby and Cornelius gets an animated cameo.<\/p>\n
The classic tunes are staged with zesty high spirits. \u201cBefore the Parade Passes By\u201d 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. \u201cWe\u2019ve Got Elegance\u201d is performed in a Charleston-style dance and the big title number has Dolly luxuriating in everyone\u2019s attention while divine in a strapless black and silver gown that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in today\u2019s award show red carpet settings \u2013 though why there are Vegas-style showgirls backing up Dolly and the singing waiters for this song is unclear.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
This video doesn\u2019t come with English subtitles, but anyone familiar with \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d 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.<\/p>\n