The Matchmaker
“Loud, slap dash and uproarious … extraordinarily original and funny.”
“Rolls along merrily and madly and the customers are convulsed.”
“The lines of Wilder are so often brilliant, sage, and witty.”
Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy merchant in 19th Century Yonkers, NY, decides to take a wife and employs a matchmaker, Mrs. Dolly Levi. Dolly subsequently becomes involved with two of Vandergelder’s clerks, several lovely ladies, and the headwaiter at an expensive restaurant where this swift farce runs headlong into hilarious complications. After everyone gets straightened out romantically, Vandergelder finds himself affianced to the astute Dolly Levi herself.
The Matchmaker opened on Broadway on December 5, 1955 starring Ruth Gordon (Best Actress, Tony Award Nominee), directed by Tyrone Guthrie (Best Director, Tony Award Winner). The Matchmaker ran for 486 performances, Wilder’s Broadway record, and closed on February 2, 1957. It was later adapted as the musical Hello, Dolly!.
From the blog: Matchmaker to Dolly: The surprising history behind a show business classic
Photos
Videos
Tappan Wilder on The Matchmaker
LICENSING
Amateur Productions in the USA, Puerto Rico and Commonwealth Countries:
Samuel French Inc.
All Professional Productions; Amateur Productions outside the USA and Commonwealth Countries:
Alan Brodie Representation Ltd.
PURCHASE
The Matchmaker, published by Harper Collins
Thornton Wilder: Collected Plays and Writings on Theater, published by the Library of America
