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On with the Show


  




Last Saturday evening found me making my way via GPS to Marriotts Ridge High School to see Howard County Summer Theater’s production of  Hello, Dolly! My journey provided a needed reminder that there are parts of Howard County I rarely visit and that, frankly, feel like the middle of nowhere to me, especially after dark.  I certainly could do a better job at exploring the unfamiliar. 

This year marks Howard County Summer Theater’s 47th season as a summer theater group in the Columbia/HoCo community.I have been to see their shows exactly twice: both times to see friend Dave Bittner in a leading role. This time he’s playing Horace Vandergelder in the musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker. I’m a big fan of Wilder’s original play and tend to think it didn’t need a musical version. But clearly Hello, Dolly!  has been making its way in the world successfully for quite some time without benefit of my opinion.

If you like musical theater and have a soft spot in your heart for amateur productions you shouldn’t miss this opportunity to see everything that community theater does best. Tickets are 22 dollars for adults and 18 dollars for children and seniors over 60. Visit the Howard County Summer Theater website to learn more and to buy tickets for this weekends three performances: 6/30, 6/31, and 7/1. 

Vying with the delicious, over-the-top nature of the evening’s entertainment is the fact that proceeds from all shows benefit two local nonprofits: Grassroots and Prepare for Success. If you’re feeling particularly generous there’s a big glass jar on the ticket table where you can throw in some extra cash to support these two excellent initiatives.

I’m going to pause here to make a pitch for Prepare for Success. I’ve written about them before. When I received a letter from Susan and Roy Appletree last week, reminding me that this year’s campaign was about to begin, I smiled. For one thing, I already had a ticket to Hello, Dolly! which would help support their mission and two, they clearly know I’m a sucker for a pitch letter with an additional handwritten message. 



Its mission is simple. Prepare for Success works to provide school supplies, including backpacks, to students whose families don’t have the resources to purchase them. Their goal is to remove that obstacle to learning and to help start each of their school years on a positive note. 

So, if you already love musical theatre, this is a win/win situation for you. Buy a ticket, see the show, support area nonprofits. If for some reason you are allergic to musicals (I’m not judging you!) feel free to click on over and give to the initiatives themselves:
If you’re all in when it comes to musicals, you might enjoy this episode of the Razzle Dazzle podcast on Dragon Digital Radio from HCC “Catching up with Summer Theater and Lake Front Live” on Podbean. 
https://www.podbean.com/ei/pb-jxuht-143be41

One last thought:

“Hello, Dolly’s” most prominent theme: the effects of living in wealth vs. poverty, is conveyed most clearly through the protagonist, Dolly Levi’s pursuit of marriage. A quest motivated not by love, but by money. Make no mistake though, Dolly Levi is no gold digger. She’s extremely skilled, ambitious, and generous. Such assets, however, were marked as valueless for women in this era. Dolly’s experience in living hand-to-mouth motivates her to seek out a wealthy husband to increase the standard of her life, and the life of anyone in need.

This lovable, multi-faceted character’s perspective on wealth is the obvious intended take away of this musical: “Money, pardon the expression, is like manure,” says Dolly, quoting her late husband Ephraim. “It’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around, encouraging young things to grow.”- - Halimah Budeir, VOX ATL

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