Every time I go to see a production from the Loyola Academy Theater Program, I am left amazed. The 2025 spring musical, Hello, Dolly! was no exception.
There were three performances of this production on Fri, April 11, Sat, April 12, and Sun, April 13.
I went into the experience, on April 11 for opening night, a little skeptical because I had never seen “Hello, Dolly!” before and knew nothing about it. I was excited to see what it was all about, but also nervous since so much was unknown.
I quickly found out that “Hello, Dolly!” has a great plotline filled with lots of humorous and heartwarming scenes as well as exciting musical numbers.
The story follows the character Dolly Levi who considers herself a matchmaker and spends the musical trying to set-up different pairs and find love for herself.
I was captivated immediately by junior Jacqueline Willer, who played Dolly. The show opened with the song “Call on Dolly,” featuring the entire cast, and moved into Willer’s first solo song, “I Put My Hand In.” Willer’s vocals were outstanding in both of these songs, and she set a very strong tone for the rest of the performance.
Along with Willer, I also thoroughly enjoyed watching senior Tommy Grant and sophomore Max Levin. Grant played Cornelius Hackl and Levin played Barnaby, who are best friends and spend the entire show together. Grant and Levin were amazing on their own, but I loved seeing them work together as they played so well off of each other. Each time they were on stage I found myself smiling, laughing, or impressed with their talent.
The show was full of amazing scenes, but my favorite, by far, was the Hat Shop scene. In this scene, Cornelius and Barnaby are hiding from their boss, Horace Vandergelder, played by senior Colin San Roman. They hide in a hat shop owned by Irene Molloy, played by Evelyn Pricco, and Minnie Fay, played by Keira Paredes, and Dolly also appears to help them hide.
All of the actors in this scene delivered a fantastic performance that was so fun to watch. I found myself audibly laughing as Corenlius and Barnaby hid under the table while Irene, Minnie, and Dolly tried to distract Horace.
Willer agreed that this was the best scene in the show because it was her favorite to perform. “It is really fun to do,” she said. “It is a bunch of my best friends on stage, and we have a good time with it.”
Besides the actors and performances, I was also amazed by the set behind them. It was so intricate and had so many moving parts that it was able to serve as a hay and feed store, a hat shop, a restaurant, and a courtroom at different points throughout the show.
In the scenes it was a restaurant, a giant staircase opened up down the middle that connected to the balcony that ran along the top. One of the coolest moments in the show was during the song “Hello, Dolly!,” when Dolly descended down the stairs to the cast below her.
While the overall performance was very great, it was a very lengthy show. It lasted around two hours and thirty minutes, which was definitely long to sit through.
At the beginning of each act, the band played for quite a long time. There were also moments throughout different songs where lyrics were repeated multiple times and there were extended dance breaks.
The band and the dancers in the show were very talented, so I appreciated that they were highlighted, but it did make the show drag on a bit and probably could have been cut down.
This did not take away from the quality of the show, though.
My grandma, Ginny Collins, who went with me to see the show, agreed that it was amazing. “The leads portrayed their characters to perfection with beautiful voices and outstanding acting, the supporting cast was superb, and the musical numbers could not have been better,” Collins said.
Loyola Theater gave a fantastic performance, like always. Sadly, the show dates have ended, so there are no more chances to see this particular show. But when the program returns with another performance in the fall, you will not want to miss it.
