Michelle Verne
Thornton Wilder’s fast-paced and high-energy classic comedy, “The Matchmaker,” debuts March 23 in the Pierce College Performing Arts Mainstage Theatre.
Directed by Gene Putnam, an 18-year Pierce professor of theatre arts, this comedy farce should send its viewers off laughing as 17 cast members take them on a romantic journey.
“It is so hilariously funny that when you are reading it you just start laughing out loud,” said Bill Walsh, second-semester Pierce student who plays Horace Vandergelder.
“The Matchmaker” originally ran on Broadway in 1955. A film version featuring Shirley MacLaine [CQ] and Anthony Perkins was released in 1958.
“The movie does not flesh out the characters as well as the play,” said Kabrina [Feikart], second-semester Pierce student who plays Dolly Gallagher Levi.
Wilder did not strike gold until “The Matchmaker” was developed into the Tony Award-winning musical “Hello, Dolly!”
“We don’t do the songs but the titles of the songs are in the play,” said Walsh.
The play has a total of four acts with an intermission. “There are a lot of chase scenes and mixed-up-identity scenes. In rehearsal we’re running around sweating,” said Feikart.
The Pierce staging of the play retains the old-fashioned flavor of the original comedy. “We break the fourth wall. We actually come down and talk to the audience,” said [Feikart]. “With Dolly there are a lot of inside jokes. She’ll say something and then wink …at the audience and you don’t see that in traditional farce comedies.”
The play also carries a valuable message about taking risks and enjoying life.
“This play is about having adventure in our lives,” said Putnam. It reminds us, “We get into the everyday routines of life and don’t go out and try to experience it to the fullest.”
“I love the message that is given at the end by one of the characters,” added Walsh.
In order to find out what that message is, viewers will need to come and see the Pierce Theatre Arts Department staging of “The Matchmaker” on Friday and Saturday, March 23 and 24, 30 and 31 at 8 p.m., Sunday, March 25 and April 1 at 2 p.m. or Thursday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. General admission is $12, students and seniors are $10. For ticket information, call (818) 347-4807.
Kabrina Lee Feikert portrays title character Dolly Gallagher Levi. (Yvonne Kleiman)