Dolly and Horace win hearts again

A vintage valentine to Americana, Thornton Wilder’s “The Matchmaker” is a bit dusty and tattered from much handling. Wilder’s 1954 play, set in 1880s New York, was later transmuted into “Hello, Dolly!” -- a musical that has been done to death in summer stocks, dinner theaters and high school auditoriums for more than 30 years.

Those familiar only with the musical, or with the lackluster 1958 film, “The Matchmaker,” starring Shirley Booth and Anthony Perkins, will find the current production at A Noise Within a welcome surprise.

Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez Elliott flesh out the human dimensions of Wilder’s seeming stereotypes, gently brushing off the grime of the years in their loving restoration. Yevgenia Nayberg’s versatile set, all rustic wood planking and platforms, is the framework. Angela Balogh Calin’s typically splendid costumes, Ken Booth’s fine lighting and Ron Wyand’s mellow sound design are subtle but integral components. Norman L. Berman’s original music is so beautifully evocative of the period, it should be packaged with every future production.

Deborah Strang is a delight as Dolly Gallagher Levi, the impecunious and scheming matchmaker of the title. However, the chief virtue of this staging is that there’s no whiff of a star vehicle about it.

In fact, this is an all-star cast. The performers are superb, right down to the lesser roles.

Apollo Dukakis plays Horace Vandergelder, the curmudgeonly half-millionaire whom Dolly intends to hook into marriage, with convincing manliness. Dukakis’ Horace, a fitting foil for Strang, may be irascible but he’s not just gross, and that’s an important distinction. When he and Dolly finally get together, we sense that it will be a true union, marriage bed and all.

Likewise, Donald Sage Mackay shoots some bracing testosterone into the naif character of Cornelius. Jill Hill is a howl as Irene Molloy, whom she plays as a fiery Irishwoman fresh off the boat.

Characters that were whittled down or jettisoned in later adaptations include Malachi Stack (Mitchell Edmonds), a boozy rogue who accompanies Horace on his New York adventure, and Flora Van Huysen (Michele Farr), a ditzy matron with a soft spot for lovers. Edmonds’ “One vice at a time” speech is the folksiest, funniest moment in this folksy, funny show.

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‘The Matchmaker’

Where: A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale

When: Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m.; Wednesday-Thursday and April 30, 8 p.m.; May 1-2, 8 p.m.; May 9, 2 and 7 p.m.; May 12-13, 8 p.m.

Ends: May 13

Price: $20-$40

Contact: (818) 240-0910

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes