A Match Made in Heaven

One of the things I love about my current home is that it lies just a 35-minute drive away from Stratford. Where formerly I had to plan lengthy multi-night excursions to see all the plays that interested me, now I can just pick a day, hop in the car and whip over there, and come home the same night. If it's a matinee, I can even make it home for dinner!

So, my first show of Stratford Festival 2012: Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker. Let me say, right off the bat, that for me this script completely trumps the musicalized version, Hello Dolly! Not surprising, of course. When you take a tightly-written stage play and try to adapt it into a stage musical, some of the tight writing has to go to make room for songs.

My second observation is that the choice of this show was perfectly calculated to show off the comedic acting strengths of the current Stratford company. What a marvellous collection of comic skill, timing, and vocal ability!

The downside right away was the set in Act 1. The second story of the set was totally superfluous, and simply ate up valuable acting space without giving much useful space in return. It was a great period showpiece that plainly set the scene in the country town (as it then was) of Yonkers, but its size and awkward shape cancelled the benefits that an upstairs might have created. That said, the restaurant set of Act 2 was gorgeous and worked beautifully for all the complicated manoeuvrings that have to happen there.

This was the next-to-last preview performance, so the show was tight and ran smoothly throughout with no obvious weaknesses (well, except one). Tom McCamus made a strong and disagreeable Horace Vandergelder ("Horace of the money"), a cranky eccentric millionaire who manages to learn a thing or two by the end of the play. Seana McKenna simply lit up the stage from her first entrance as Dolly Gallagher Levi. The two played marvellous scenes together, as well matched a couple as you could want in those roles.

Equally entertaining were Mike Shara and Josh Epstein as Vandergelder's two browbeaten employees. Their comic shenanigans were believable and never overdone. Laura Condlin gave a radiant performance as Irene Molloy, completely centring her major scenes with Shara and Epstein. Andrea Runge as Minnie Fay, Irene's assistant, was also wonderful.

And then there was Geraint Wyn Davies, giving a magnificent take on the uncommon common man, Malachi Stack.

With so many strong performances (including several I haven't mentioned) it seems a pity to have to inject a complaint, but here goes. Nora McLellan, usually a reliably strong performer, badly overdid her characterization as Miss Flora van Huysen in the last act. Overdressed, over-made-up, and vocally completely over the top, this Miss Flora was simply not believable at all -- and in fact only became increasingly annoying each time she spoke. Definitely not an effective choice.

That was the only blot on this tight well-crafted production of a fine modern American classic that certainly ought to be staged more often in Canada. Director Chris Abraham has come up with a real winner, hilariously funny and thought-provoking at the same time. This show is well worth anyone's time and effort to see!