"I don't want a young Dolly."
Are you thinking that younger women cannot adequately portray widows?
The history of the era (or should that be herstory) says that women were of three ages: youth, married, widowed. Mrs. Levy and Mrs. Malloy were of the same age -- both widows -- no matter what their chronological ages. As background, read Pride and Prejudice for married women outranking older single women, and Gone with the Wind for a young widow being frowned on for wanting to "get some fun back into my life." Even today in some countries, widows are socially prescribed to wear certain clothing and to act... well... widowly.
I rank the requirements of a good Dolly as: (1) able to find the comedy, (2) able to find the pathos, and (3) singing. If the first two are there, the singing is not as important. Almost all Dolly's songs start with her and then have the chorus come in to give the song a rousing finish.
I know a woman from a South Asian country who was thrilled when her parents started arranging a marriage for her. As a single woman, she was not allowed to go many places, and when she did get to go she had to be accompanied by her father or brother. She looked at marriage as "freedom". Yet widows in that country rarely remarry, and are expected to wear specific dress.
Speaking of South Asia, I've always wanted to see a Hello Dolly production cast entirely with South Asians. It sort of fits with Dolly as a marriage broker (arranged marriages), South Asian traditions for widows, and the big chorus numbers would look great with saris and Punjabis! |
