Lots of Fun, Fun to Watch
by penguino11
Monday, June 23, 2008	4.0
Attending Preview night is always a joy. The cast were enthusiastic and covered any fumble with grace, down the youngest members. The highlight of the evening was with no doubt Katie Baughman's vocal performance as Irene Malloy. Her soaring voice hit every note with expression and timing rarely found in community theatre. Another high point was the youngest actors. They were fun, believable, and in character throughout the show. It made me want to return to children's theatre all over again! Also fun were Cornelius and Barnaby's (David Azzarello and Patrick Coffey) believably awkward friendship with each other and courtship of their perfectly cast love interests. I'd also love to point out that the set and backdrops are phenomenal! They were fun to look at but not distracting. Costuming was also done with flair, particularly for the main roles. Make-up and Hair were also quite nice, in that one never stopped to think about them specifically. Although called for in the script... and done quite well with great grace by Jill Massa, I am always put off by the crying whimpering Ermengarde in any performance. Dolly is beautifully played by Patty Guenthner and it is abundantly apparent that it is indeed her time to shine. She's joyful and lonesome at once and never pushes it over the top. Her love interest, played by Alan Stacy, takes a little warming up too, but is fun to watch as the two develop the "relationship." I felt like I was watching the two actors finally find their characters together and would guess that the following performances will be amazing indeed! [POST A COMMENT REGARDING THIS REVIEW]

Re: Lots of Fun -- Correction by Alan Stacy

"Her love interest, played by Alan Stacy, takes a little warming up too..." Typecasting at it's best (or worst depending on your point of view). For the record, this review incorrectly states the production is at 14th Street Playhouse. That would be nice, though, and the show is certainly up to the standard set by 14th Street. However, Hello Dolly is playing in The Hyland Center of the Cathedral of Christ the King in Buckhead. The Cathedral Players annual production is in conjunction with the Buckhead Christian Ministries and all proceeds go to Atlanta's less fortunate in the form of food, clothing, and shelter. If you'd like to enjoy a great show (with a 16 piece orchestra) at the affordable price of $10 AND support a worthy cause, come see us this weekend for our final two performances. Go to http://www.cathedralofchristtheking.org/eng/news/the_cathedral_players.html for more information. Alan Stacy

Great Dolly by Bill Mann

I really have never cared too much for "Hello Dolly", but this performance left me singing the songs from the show for days. I agree that Karie Baughman has a great voice and stage presence, she was a joy to watch and hear. I have known Alan Stacy for years and as yet have not warmed up to him(joke)Alan does such a great job with his character and his facial expressions are right on. The cast is much stronger than I had expected and made the evening a joy. All that being said, Patty Guenthner is the best Dolly I have "EVER" seen. Her voice, and her stage presence were fantastic. I worked with Patty in 1986 in "Joseph" and as great as she was then she has grown into a fantastic actress and singer. I would pay to see her in anything anywhere. There are only two more performances 27 June and 28 June and all I can say is that if you can get there you will be entertained beautifully. Am I biased, well I wasn't when I got there, but I am now. To the cast, I loved it and thanks for a wonderful evening.