By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 10/7/04)

Love and money take center stage in Thornton Wilder’s farcical "Matchmaker" at Ford’s Theatre.

Ford’s revival production of "The Matchmaker," directed by Mark Lamos and produced by Paul Tetreault, celebrates the play’s 50th anniversary.

Wilder, best remembered for penning the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Our Town," wrote "The Matchmaker" in 1954. This play gained more fame when "Hello Dolly!" the musical based on the play was released in New York in 1964.

Set in Yonkers and New York City in the late 1880s, the farce weaves themes of love and money through an energetic day of scheming and games of cat-and-mouse.

With its larger-than-life characters, unbelievable and hilarious near misses and a multitude of romantic interests, "The Matchmaker" is the ultimate farce.

Tony Award-winning Andrea Martin stars as Dolly Levi, the matchmaker set on finding herself a match after the death of her husband.

Jonathan Hadary plays the part of the miserly Horace Vandergelder. While Vandergelder is set on finding a suitable partner for himself, he refuses to allow his niece, Ermengarde (Anne Bowles), to marry the man she loves, Ambrose Kemper (Matthew Floyd Miller). Kemper is merely an artist, how could he support Ermengarde?

Indirectly, Vandergelder has also been keeping his chief clerk, Cornelius Hackl (David McNamara), from finding love by requiring him to work long hours, six days a week. When Hackl and fellow clerk Barnaby Tucker (Christopher Hanke) close shop and spend a day in New York, their luck at love changes.

With a large cast of principle characters, Dolly is the one who ties them all together, making matches and protecting characters from the killjoy Vandergelder.

Perhaps the most farcical of the characters is Miss Flora Van Huysen (Lola Pashalinski). The old spinster is supposed to ensure that Ermengarde will not marry Kemper. But through a series of mistaken identities, how can she keep them apart if she doesn’t even know who they are?

Scenic designer Michael Yeargan transports the audience from the town of Yonkers — "where nothing ever happens" — to Mrs. Molloy’s hat shop, the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant and Miss VanHuysen’s house in busy New York City. Props and staging devices like screens, stacks of crates and large pieces of furniture create a set for the hide-and-seek plot of the play.

Although the plaid suits and bushy skirts worn by the actors would be balked at if worn today, costume designer Wade Laboissonniere succeeded in harkening back to a time more than 100 years ago when ladies kept their legs covered and store clerks wore shirts with collars.

"The Matchmaker" runs through Oct. 24. For tickets and information contact Ford’s Theatre at 202/347-4833.