The Matchmaker
Encyclopedia
The Matchmaker is a play by Thornton Wilder
.
The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford
's 1835 one-act farce
A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen
by Austria
n playwright
Johann Nestroy
in 1842. In 1938, Wilder adapted Nestroy's version into an Americanized
comedy
entitled The Merchant of Yonkers
, which attracted the attention of German
director Max Reinhardt
, who mounted a Broadway production. It was a dismal failure, running for a mere 39 performances.
Fifteen years later, director Tyrone Guthrie
expressed interest in a new production of the play, which Wilder extensively rewrote and rechristened The Matchmaker. The most significant change was the expansion of a previously minor character named Dolly Gallagher Levi, who became the play's centerpiece. A widow who brokers marriages and other transactions in Yonkers, New York
at the turn of the 20th Century, she sets her sights on local merchant Horace Vandergelder, who has hired her to find him a wife. After a series of slapstick
situations involving mistaken identities, secret rendezvous behind carefully placed screens, separated lovers, and a trip to night court, everyone finds themselves paired with a perfect match.
The play was a success at the Edinburgh Festival
in Scotland
and at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London
's West End
before finally opening on Broadway on December 5, 1955 at the Royale Theatre, later transferring to the Booth
to complete its run of 486 performances. Ruth Gordon
's performance in the title role earned her a Tony Award
nomination as Best Actress; Guthrie won as Best Director.
The 1958 film version
, adapted by John Michael Hayes
and directed by Joseph Anthony
, starred Shirley Booth
, Anthony Perkins
, Shirley MacLaine
, Paul Ford, and Robert Morse
.
In 1964, the play enjoyed yet another incarnation when David Merrick
, who had produced the 1955 Broadway production, mounted a hugely successful, Tony Award
-winning musical version entitled Hello, Dolly!
, with a score by Jerry Herman
and starring Carol Channing
.
A film version of Hello Dolly! was released in 1969 starring Barbra Streisand
in the lead role.
The 1981 Tom Stoppard
farce
On the Razzle
also is based on the same story.
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
.
The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford
John Oxenford
John Oxenford , English dramatist, was born at Camberwell, London, England.-Life:He began his literary career by writing on finance...
's 1835 one-act farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen
Einen Jux will er sich machen
Einen Jux will er sich machen , , is a three-act musical play, designated as a Posse mit Gesang, by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy first performed at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 10 March 1842...
by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Johann Nestroy
Johann Nestroy
Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath...
in 1842. In 1938, Wilder adapted Nestroy's version into an Americanized
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
entitled The Merchant of Yonkers
The Merchant of Yonkers
The Merchant of Yonkers is a play by Thornton Wilder.Hilary Daniels 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842...
, which attracted the attention of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
director Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
, who mounted a Broadway production. It was a dismal failure, running for a mere 39 performances.
Fifteen years later, director Tyrone Guthrie
Tyrone Guthrie
Sir William Tyrone Guthrie was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, at his family's home, Annaghmakerrig, in County Monaghan, Ireland.-Life and career:Guthrie...
expressed interest in a new production of the play, which Wilder extensively rewrote and rechristened The Matchmaker. The most significant change was the expansion of a previously minor character named Dolly Gallagher Levi, who became the play's centerpiece. A widow who brokers marriages and other transactions in Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
at the turn of the 20th Century, she sets her sights on local merchant Horace Vandergelder, who has hired her to find him a wife. After a series of slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
situations involving mistaken identities, secret rendezvous behind carefully placed screens, separated lovers, and a trip to night court, everyone finds themselves paired with a perfect match.
The play was a success at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
before finally opening on Broadway on December 5, 1955 at the Royale Theatre, later transferring to the Booth
Booth Theatre
The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 222 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York City.Architect Henry B. Herts designed the Booth and its companion Shubert Theatre as a back-to-back pair sharing a Venetian Renaissance-style façade...
to complete its run of 486 performances. Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
's performance in the title role earned her a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination as Best Actress; Guthrie won as Best Director.
The 1958 film version
The Matchmaker (film)
The Matchmaker is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Joseph Anthony. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes is based on the 1955 play of the same name by Thornton Wilder.-Plot:...
, adapted by John Michael Hayes
John Michael Hayes
John Michael Hayes was an American screenwriter, who scripted several of Alfred Hitchcock's films in the 1950s, and subject of the book "" by Steven DeRosa.-Early life:...
and directed by Joseph Anthony
Joseph Anthony
Joseph Anthony was an American playwright, actor, and director. He made his film acting debut in the 1934 film Hat, Coat, and Glove and his theatrical acting debut in a 1935 production of Mary of Scotland...
, starred Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth was an American actress.Primarily a theatre actress, Booth's Broadway career began in 1925. Her most significant success was as Lola Delaney, in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba, for which she received a Tony Award in 1950...
, Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
, Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, Paul Ford, and Robert Morse
Robert Morse
Robert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
.
In 1964, the play enjoyed yet another incarnation when David Merrick
David Merrick
David Merrick was a prolific Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer.-Life and career:Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law...
, who had produced the 1955 Broadway production, mounted a hugely successful, Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning musical version entitled Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
, with a score by Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...
and starring Carol Channing
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination...
.
A film version of Hello Dolly! was released in 1969 starring Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
in the lead role.
The 1981 Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
On the Razzle
On the Razzle (play)
On the Razzle is a play by Tom Stoppard. It is an adaptation of the Viennese play Einen Jux will er sich machen by Johann Nestroy, which previously was adapted twice by Thornton Wilder...
also is based on the same story.
Characters and original Broadway cast
- Horace Vandergelder, a Merchant of Yonkers – Loring SmithLoring SmithLoring B. Smith the Great was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, frequently of broadly comic and gregarious characters who enjoyed a 65-year career in every aspect of the entertainment business....
- Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi, a Friend of Vandergelder's Late Wife – Ruth GordonRuth GordonRuth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
- Irene Molloy, a Milliner – Eileen HerlieEileen HerlieEileen Herlie was a Scottish-American actress.-Life and career:Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to a Catholic father and a Protestant mother in Glasgow, Scotland, and was one of five children. Herlie was trained as a theatre actress. Among her West End London theatre successes were The...
- Minnie Fay, Mrs. Molloy's Assistant – Rosamund GreenwoodRosamund GreenwoodRosamund Greenwood was a British actress who was active on screen from 1935 until 1990.In a career stretching more than 50 years, Greenwood appeared in productions including The Prince and the Showgirl, Night of the Demon, Upstairs, Downstairs, Angels, Crown Court and A Perfect Spy...
- Cornelius Hackl, a Clerk in Vandergelder's Store – Arthur HillArthur Hill (actor)Arthur Edward Spence Hill was a Canadian actor best known for appearances in British and American theater, movies and television...
- Barnaby Tucker, an Apprentice in Vandergelder's Store – Robert MorseRobert MorseRobert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
- Ermengarde, Mr. Vandergelder's niece, whom Ambrose wants to marry — Prunella ScalesPrunella ScalesPrunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
- Miss Flora Van Husen, a Friend of Vandergelder's Late Wife – Esme ChurchEsme ChurchEsme Church was a British actress and theatre director. In a long career she acted with the Old Vic Company, The Royal Shakespeare Company and on Broadway...
- Malachi Stack – Patrick McAlinneyPatrick McAlinneyPatrick McAlinney was an Irish-born character actor who starred in many British dramas and sitcoms. His most memorable roles included a brother on the hit sitcom Oh, Brother! which starred Derek Nimmo, Mr. O'Reilly in The Tomorrow People and Dr...
- Ambrose Kemper, an Artist – Alexander Davion
- Gertrude, Vandergelder's Housekeeper – Charity Grace
- Miss Van Husen's Cook – Christine Thomas
- Rudolf, a Waiter – William Lanteau
- Joe Scanlon, a Barber – Philip Leeds
- August, a Waiter – John MulliganJohn MulliganFor the 19th-century baseball player, see John Mulligan .Joshua Salvator Mulligan is a Birmingham, England born new nave musician. He is most prominently known as the bassist and keyboardist of the band Fashion from 1978-1984....