All revivals carry the burden of collective memory. In the film version, Barbra Streisand was unforgettable as Dolly Levi, the professional matchmaker whose final match was to marry Walter Matthau’s “half-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. That the British (and Jewish) actors Samantha Spiro and Allan Corduner make light of the load says a lot about their versatile talents.
Spiro was a shoo-in for Dolly. She recently laid the ghost of Streisand’s past performances as Jewish comedienne Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. And although Spiro has sung more powerfully than on this press night, her voice should settle and her Dolly gorgeously melds comic timing and sass as seamlessly as composer Jerry Herman combines melody and lyric. But that this silly, satisfying show is as good as could be hoped says even more about the Open Air’s artistic director Timothy Sheader. It was Sheader who helmed last year’s “Holocaust musical”, Imagine This. The best thing about that show was the direction. His two years at the Open Air has raised the bar and one day he will be known as our best director of musicals.
With Stephen Mear’s choreography each Herman showstopper induces the yearned-for ecstasy. Put On Your Sunday Clothes and go. (Tel: 0844 826 4242)
