STAGE REVIEW : Please Turn Down the Volume a Bit in ‘Matchmaker’

Director Marla Gam-Hudson tries to make the Garden Grove Community Theatre’s “The Matchmaker” peppy and fun-loving, but the result is noisy and too cute for its own good.

First off, why do so many of the actors keep shouting? This is a tiny theater; you don’t have to yell. It’s as if Gam-Hudson and her cast equate enthusiasm with volume.

In fact, Gam-Hudson approaches “The Matchmaker” with a wide-open style more suitable for a musical. The fact that this Thornton Wilder comedy was the inspiration for “Hello, Dolly!” hasn’t been lost on her.

But this isn’t a musical, and the exaggerated tempo and characterizations don’t always work well with this form and in this setting.

The production does tone down every now and then--Terri Miller Schmidt’s portrayal of matchmaking Dolly Levi is the show’s most level-headed and effective--but not enough to capitalize on the sometimes clever, deeper-meaning writing of Wilder that never made it to the musical.

This “Matchmaker” is at its best when Schmidt is on stage--you can almost see the gears turning in this likable schemer’s head. During their calmer stretches, Mark MacDicken as Cornelius Hackel and Christian Leffler as Barnaby Tucker also have their moments.

But David Kinwald’s Horace Vandergelder is as loud as they come. The portrayal is just too barking and nasty to be very involving. Kelly Godfrey exhibits some talent, but she too is cacophonous as Irene Malloy.

‘THE MATCHMAKER’

A Garden Grove Community Theatre production of Thornton Wilder’s comedy. Directed by Marla Gam-Hudson. With David Kinwald, Ron Graham, Jerry Groble, Tom Royer, Mark MacDicken, Denise M. DiRisio, Steven Opyrchal, Terri Miller Schmidt, Christian Leffler, Kelly Godfrey, Sarah Ann Crawford and Ilona Honeyman. Sets by Randimar Productions. Plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through Sept. 29 at 12001 St. Mark St., Garden Grove. Tickets: $6 and $7. (714) 897-5122.