The University Theatre ushers in the first performance of the new year Friday with Thornton Wilder’s “The Matchmaker.”
Though director Jack Watson said the play may not be familiar, more people may be familiar with its musical incarnation, “Hello, Dolly!”
“The Matchmaker” focuses on Dolly Levi, a woman enlisted by a wealthy store owner to help him remarry. In the midst of this endeavor, other couples fall in love and must overcome their own obstacles — all with a little help from Dolly.
“She is one of the great manipulators of all time,” Watson said. Senior theater arts major Jocelyn Fultz plays Dolly, quite a different role from her lead last April in the Greek drama “Electra.” Senior theater arts major Rowan Morrison takes the other lead as “the old coot,” Horace Vandergelder.
Morrison said “The Matchmaker” will have an older appeal than past mainstage shows “Electra,” and Tony Kushner’s two-part play “Angels
in America.”
Watson said the theater department decided to choose an American play with more general appeal, and he chose “The Matchmaker” for “it’s ability to be comic and philosophic at the same time.”
“I don’t think it’s meant to be challenging; it’s meant to be charming,”
he said.
The play, first performed in 1938, is based in the 1880s. Morrison said the play is Wilder’s attempt to explore the humanity of the characters he creates from this era. While Wilder created a small gap between his own time and the play’s era, the gap for Morrison is much larger.
“One of the difficulties for cast members is to relate to this innocence that we just don’t have today,” he said.
Set designer Jerry Hooker had his own difficulties making the four sets required for the play. To minimize the transitions, Hooker created a basic framework that remains during the show while the furniture changes and large backdrops lower from the rafters to create the mood.
“The Matchmaker” is Hooker’s first show at the University after coming from Sam Houston State University in Texas, where he worked for six years. Prior to that, Hooker was a freelance designer in Seattle, working primarily for professional shows.
Hooker said the transition from professional work to teaching involves some mental adjustments.
“I’m used to just telling people what to do and letting them do it. At a university, I have to tell people what to do and walk them through it,” he said.
Most of the set work is done by students in production classes through the theater department or by work study students, Hooker said.
Hooker was a junior in college before he tried his hand at the technical side of theater; now he has been doing it for 20 years.
“A lot of students come in wanting to be actors, and then they try tech work and find it clicks,” Hooker said.
Running around the stage, trying to do as much as possible, Hooker makes it clear that a lot of work has gone into a production that only lasts two hours. And Watson promises the play will end “happily ever after.”
“The Matchmaker” starts Friday in the University Theatre and runs Jan. 26, 31, Feb. 1, 2, 8, 9 at 8 p.m. The performance on Feb. 3 begins at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the EMU Ticket Office or at the theater’s box office the day of the show. Tickets are $5 for University students and $12 for the general public.