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| Mesa theater’s ‘Dolly’ shines | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Chris Page, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| February 20, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The young 30-something — sporting a whipcrack wit and a golden voice able to belt to the back rows — is the Palm’s own Ethel Merman, and Loos has the local fans to prove it. She deserves, if not always gets, one shot in the season atop the marquee, and she sparkles brightest when the spectre of Merman looms large: In 2005’s “Gypsy,” she stole the show with her 11 o’clock number, “Rose’s Turn.” This time, she’s starring in another Broadway gem, “Hello, Dolly!,” in the title role written originally for Merman: a widowed matchmaker and jill-of-all-trades who whips up new love connections, and comic high jinks, in old New York. Like Dolly herself, Loos proves once again she’s nothing short of a sensation. Director M. Seth Reins stays wholly faithful to tradition here. He’s not reinventing the wheel, of course, but he does find plenty of comedy and solid performances from his youngish cast — from the choreographed cacophony of “The Waiter’s Gallop” to the two rural feed store employees (William Diggle and Danny Boman) who escape for a night of girl hunting in the big city. Loos, thankfully and decidedly un-Merman in this respect, never upstages the lot, though her lavish frocks (by John White) — a jade gown with purple plume, a show-closing ruby number — do threaten to upstage her. If there’s a nagging fault in this “Dolly,” it’s Michael Shiles as Horace Vandergelder, the “half-a-millionaire” feed store owner whom Dolly sets her sights on; Shiles never fully taps into his inner curmudgeon — Horace, after all, admits he’s “rich, friendless and mean” — though he does have a redeemingly rich baritone singing voice. Perhaps I’m projecting too much of Walter Matthau’s Horace from the 1969 film version. I’ve always done the same with Dollys, comparing the role against Barbra Streisand’s glamorous turn on the silver screen. That is, until I saw Loos. Streisand-fan sacrilege, sure, but I invite you to spend the evening with Loos. You, too, might find yourself falling in love. Contact Chris Page by email, or phone (480) 898-5656 |
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