"Hello, Dolly!"

March 16-19, 2005

Back to Troupe #6172 Home

Our biggest, baddest musical of all times.  I mean, sure, it's about a matchmaker in the 1940's.  And there's lots of singing about love.  And it's not actually "bad."  But you get what I mean.  Don't you?

Pictures by Mr. G, Courtney Lemay ('07), Alexia Davies ('08).  Captions by Mr. G

Before the Show

The original set crew, and a big pile o' lumber that will become our set.

George, and special guest Sara begin the long laborious process of moving things.

Mrs. Rose's hat shop, version 1.

Construction of my original "Stonehenge" concept which was later rejected by Mrs. Cate.

For some reason, when Chad sees blue platforms, he goes homicidally crazy. Long story.

Ah yes, such a beautiful brown hue.

We called it "poop brown."

George adds Tanya and Sean's names to the Wall Of Fame for their Critics' Choice Pantomime.

Rehearsal in the early, uncertain days of standing around a lot.

Well, not just standing a lot. Sometimes, there was sitting.

What crazy blocking!

Here, we demonstrate our patented "standing in a somewhat straight line" technique.

Wes, with his hallmark fashion sense that always drives the ladies wild.

Stephanie, Christian, and a hat.

Elizabeth, Mark, Marissa and Starlett.

Starlett and Marissa.

Londa. See, I wasn't the director this time so I don't have so many funny cast captions.

Alison. And a green ... costume thingy.

Allie and Josh.

Brandon, Amy, Mary, and Rachel. By the way, if there are any spelling errors, it's Lexi's fault.

Zico and Tim. Can you guess which one has more typical 1940's hairstyle? Take your time.

Jaclyn, half of Zico, and other people in the back.

Costume Trying On Day is really fun, as this picture clearly demonstrates.

Jaclyn, as she would have looked if she were born 75 years ago.

Boy, it sure looks like the whole cast is BEHIND Mrs. Cate in this play! Ha ha ah ahah aha aha.

Mrs. Cate, Layla, Miranda, Marissa and Emily.

Elizabeth, not looking like Uma Thurman this time.

Strawboat Hats Anonymous meeting. "Hi, my name is Zico ... and I wear a strawboat hat."

Stage Manager Sean putting forth 1.10% for the team.

Miranda, in an amazing blur of action.

Erin. Actually, when Lexi gave me the list it said "Aaron," but I changed it. ..... It is "Erin," right?

Chloe, future Thespian from the class of 2012.

Catharina, and perfectly matched cast parent, Alison.

That crazy Horace and Dolly.

Danielle, Mrs. Haight's daughter.

The set grows ever larger.

The ghostly detached arm that makes its appearance in my room on every full moon, at midnight.

George, and the only tool he's allowed to use after the "jigsaw incident."

No, really, the set is big.

REALLY big. Of course, then we got told we had to strike it because somebody else had the theatre. Grr.

Props Crew members Kelly and Kim, propping it up at the props table.

Dale, our Sound Engineer who always runs our shows. He does it all with his eyes shut, as demonstrated here.

Lexi, wishing that Jessie hadn't used the 17" screw for this panelling.

The cast of Dolly and some more of that crazy standing.

Hutchison ... Martin ... Tuttle .... Wait, wrong play.

Mrs. Cate's twin sister. No, really. It was very confusing. AND finally, a dancing shot!

Annnnnd ... back to standing.

Jessie wears her sunglasses at night, so she can see the light.

The original "Saturday Night Live" choreography we had.

The orchestra, which was completely kicking. No, really, they were GOOD.

For time considerations, we had to drop this Miami Sound Machine's 1987 "Conga" piece from our show.

Cast members, post-brainwashing experiment.

Someday, this will make a good CD cover. Not a great one. But a good one.

The masking tape holding up our signs was less than hardcore, as pictured here.

The place where Dolly will counsel happy-go-lucky Ermingarde and Ambrose to stay in love.

Here, Elizabeth portrays the part she really would have liked in our last musical.

Orchestra members, warming up for the Elementary school performance

Here, Mrs. Cate "looks for" the paycheck Amy was told she'd received for her role as Chorus member.

I can't believe we actually used the Christmas turkey from "A Christmas Carol" for another play. Yet we did.

Mrs. Malloy's Hat Shop, a study in stage flats.

The arch looks much more ... what's the word ... "crappy" from behind.

Stephen's alternate personality, "Shopkins the Homicidal Jester."

The reason why Elizabeth was sick for our middle school performances.

Ashley, the Mannequin Mistress, and Jessie behind her.

Tim's slick haircut.

Starlett, helping Katy with her big line: "Leapin' Lizards!!"

The elusive Mrs. Cate who hates solo pictures. And the other side of that cool NYC backdrop.

The finally finished "Feed Store" set. You can't see the trap door, but it was most cool.

All the girls go crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

Mr. Gaudet, the visionary, looks to the skies for divine inspiration.

The big Cast & Crew Mixer we held on stage.

Cast and Crew meeting was like "West Side Story" without the fighting, animosity or rhythm.

It turned into a huge, amazingly off-key rendition of the Finale.

I got a movie of it too, but it's 45MB. That's over half the server space I'm allowed.

Crew and the finished Upstairs Parlor.

Crew, flashing the (again) obligatory gang signs.

Crew in front of the Arch of Fantasticness.

Crew and the Harmonia Gardens they built.

Kim, Claire, and Lindsay show off the fashions all Crew members will be wearing this year. The secret? Black!

And Marissa, who broke her foot on the Opening Show, and covered so well I didn't figure it out until after the show.

 

Closing Night: The Community Show

Pictures by Sean Davies' ('06) Dad.  Captions by Mr. G

Dolly and that disturbed young kleptomaniac artist, Ambrose Kemper.

Barnaby and Cornelius, those two Diamond Jims, and their dates Irene and Minnie.

Chloe, aka Townsgirl #3, clearly dominating this picture and scene.

F-E-M-I-T-Y!

Those two crazy lovebirds. What a perfect match!

Trying to spell D-O-L-L-Y with their arms. It only came out space-Y-space-Y-space.

I forget which song this was. But it was great.

Put On Your Sunday Clothes.

Hey, did you hear me? Get those Sunday Clothes on!

Minnie Fay, with Mrs. Mortimer's hat. Can you believe that woman?

Mrs. Molloy counsels young Minnie, saying that essentially she has given up on finding love and it's ok because she's old.

The cutest romance scene we've had on stage in a long time. Maybe since "Countdown to New Years."

Look, I'm dancing!

Choreography usually looks easy when you take stills of it.

Like this.

Ermingarde, and her ever-patient boyfriend Ambrose.

Will Horace and Ernestina "Money" find true love and happiness. Okay, no. No, they won't.

Ernestina offers Horace $2 to tip the band leader. The offer is politely declined.

The big show-stopping number. The lighting looks extra dark, but that's just the camera's shutter speed at work.

The big "Hello, Dolly" number, some more.

You know, Wes kind of looks like Ashton Kutcher in this shot.

How did her table get moved into the courtroom. And where did that delicious, delicious food go to?

Clearly, a Wild West sheriff would be the presiding officer in a New York City 1940's court. Clearly.

SPOILER: Dolly and Horace fall in love. Surprise!

The Big Finale.

And ...... scene.