{"id":2471856,"date":"2026-06-23T11:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2471856"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:33:08","slug":"wilders-wit-is-timeless-in-marvelous-matchmaker-at-apt-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wilders-wit-is-timeless-in-marvelous-matchmaker-at-apt-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilder\u2019s wit is timeless in marvelous \u2018Matchmaker\u2019 at APT | Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Cap Times is an independent newsroom serving Madison and Wisconsin. Sign up for the Food & Culture newsletter<\/a> for exclusive weekly insight.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n

No production of \u201cThe Matchmaker\u201d put up in the year of Beyonce\u2019s Act III can exist outside the shadow of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching Thornton Wilder\u2019s wonderfully witty comedy on the hill at American Players Theatre, where it runs through Oct. 2, I felt like the kid who saw \u201cWicked\u201d before \u201cThe Wizard of Oz.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Blame Jerry Herman, whose faithful musical adaptation of \u201cThe Matchmaker\u201d makes every other line sound like a musical cue. When Dolly Levi declares, \u201cI have always been a woman who arranges things,\u201d it strikes an opening chord in my mind. \u201cGo and get your Sunday clothes on\u201d makes my head swivel. Is a dance about to start?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ambrose Kemper (Jonathan Gardner) tries throughout “The Matchmaker” to whisk away Horace Vandergelder’s timid niece Ermengarde (Kelly Simmons).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m not the only one. Based on the chatter in the seats, if\u00a0<\/span>Barbara Streisand<\/span><\/a> (Dolly in the 1969 Oscar-winning film) could be summoned like the Candyman, she\u2019d have instantly joined the opening night crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n

This blurring of adaptations is part of the lore of \u201cThe Matchmaker.\u201d Wilder\u2019s life-affirming tale of a woman who meddles for \u201cprofit and pleasure\u201d was based on an 1830s English one-act called \u201cA Day Well Spent,\u201d then an Austrian farce, then a 1938 adaptation by Wilder called \u201cThe Merchant of Yonkers.\u201d That one flopped.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With more rewrites, Wilder\u2019s \u201cThe Matchmaker\u201d became a bona fide Broadway hit in 1954. Herman\u2019<\/em>s musical debuted 10 years later.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dolly Levi (Tracy Michelle Arnold) serves Horace Vandergelder (Triney Sandoval) in “The Matchmaker” at American Players Theatre. Brian Cowing directs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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At APT, the sun rises and sets on Tracy Michelle Arnold\u2019s Dolly Gallagher Levi, who strides into Horace Vandergelder\u2019s feed store with a dazzling smile to match the stage lights.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Phoebe Gonz\u00e1lez plays Irene Molloy in “The Matchmaker” at American Players Theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Arnold\u2019s low, slightly gravelly voice (rest in glory,\u00a0<\/span>Carol Channing<\/span><\/a>) keeps up a running commentary on everyone\u2019s affairs, whether they concern her or not. Arnold\u2019s Dolly is chaotic and bossy and infuriating. I would follow her onto the Titanic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our first would-be romantic is Mr. Vandergelder, an irritable, wealthy shop owner played by Triney Sandoval. A widower, Vandergelder has decided to marry again, mainly to get his house in order.<\/span><\/p>\n

He intends to propose to Manhattan milliner Irene Molloy (Phoebe Gonz\u00e1lez), herself a widow. She is willing to marry him, mainly because she hates hats.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Barnaby (Trevyn Wong) and Cornelius (Colin Covert) escape the boredom of Yonkers for a night in New York City in “The Matchmaker” at American Players Theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Vandergelder\u2019s clerks take the boss\u2019s absence as a chance to have an adventure in the city \u2014 their code word for when adventure is afoot is \u201cpudding!\u201d When hapless Cornelius Hackl (an earnest Colin Covert) and his teenage coworker Barnaby Tucker (Trevyn Wong, a perfect mimic) take shelter from their employer in Irene\u2019s shop, sparks fly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian Cowing\u2019s playful, hyper-specific direction of \u201cThe Matchmaker\u201d sparkles in\u00a0<\/span>scenes like this. The boys duck under tables and into closets, scurrying around while Dolly watches with amusement. Gonz\u00e1lez has a gift for joyful chaos, as Irene pulls her own clerk (Ama J. Kuwonu) and the bumbling boys toward a night out at the ritzy Harmonia Gardens.<\/p>\n

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Michael A. Peterson designed the lights with lots of warm, soft tones in “The Matchmaker,” now at American Players Theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Wilder lets several characters break the fourth wall, and none do it more smoothly than Brian Mani. He plays a minor character, a man of many talents named Malachi, whom Vandergelder has just hired. \u201cYou\u2019re surprised?\u201d Mani says, as he turns away from the scene he\u2019s in to face the audience. Malachi has a word of advice, and it\u2019s \u201cOne vice at a time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Brian Mani and Sam Luis Massaro are wonderfully funny as supporting characters in “The Matchmaker,” directed by Brian Cowing at American Players Theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Cowing\u2019s animated, silly staging of \u201cThe Matchmaker\u201d draws on musical theater choreography and classic farce. When Dolly leads her troupe to Manhattan, cast members assemble in the aisle to form a train. An elderly aunt (Karen Janes Woditsch) pops up from a sofa and the audience gasps \u2014 her dress is the same pattern as the couch. (Tracy Dorman\u2019s costume designs favor huge puffy sleeves and lots of lace; in Act II, she makes Dolly a vision in deep teal.)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Scenic designer Nathan Stuber designed the colorful world of “The Matchmaker,” now at American Players Theatre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Scenic designer Nathan Stuber adorns the set with pops of magenta above floor tiles that gleam blue and white under Michael A. Peterson\u2019s warm lighting. It\u2019s a charming place to spend a few hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is full of wonderful things,\u201d several characters say throughout \u201cThe Matchmaker,\u201d echoed in composer Joe Cerqua\u2019s musical refrain. This summer, one of those wonderful things is this very show. It\u2019s nearly three hours of proof that Wilder\u2019s wit is timeless. Pudding!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lindsay Christians<\/a>\u00a0is the food and culture editor at the Cap Times. She earned a master’s degree in theater research from UW-Madison and has been a member of the American Theatre Critics\/Journalists Association since 2007.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Email story ideas and tips to Lindsay at\u00a0lchristians@captimes.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please consider supporting Lindsay\u2019s work by becoming a\u00a0Cap Times member<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0sponsor<\/a>. Sustaining local journalism in Madison depends on readers like you.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source captimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cap Times is an independent newsroom serving Madison and Wisconsin. Sign up for the Food & Culture newsletter for exclusive weekly insight. No production of \u201cThe Matchmaker\u201d put up in the year of Beyonce\u2019s Act III can exist outside the shadow of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d Watching Thornton Wilder\u2019s wonderfully witty comedy on the hill at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2471857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2471856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wilders-wit-is-timeless-in-marvelous-\u2018Matchmaker-at-APT.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2471856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471858,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471856\/revisions\/2471858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2471856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2471856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2471856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}