I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of the musical Hello Dolly. It has a few standout songs but I mostly prefer them in Pixar’s Wall-e than in the actual musical. I also find the story to be on the bland side and it just doesn’t do much for me as a piece of musical theatre.

That said, Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy is always excellent at big spectacle productions so I knew this version of Hello Dolly would be outstanding and it actually was! It’s still not my favorite show but they did about as good a job with it as can be done. Director Ryan Simmons has filled the stage with incredible sets including a large full scale moving train and enough confetti to rival any New Years Eve celebration (set design Kacey Udy)

I saw the MWF cast with Jennifer Parker Hohl playing Dolly Levi and she was good in the role. I appreciated how she and the other performers brought out the comedy in the show. I’ve never thought of Hello Dolly as that funny of a show but they proved me wrong by interacting with the audience and making everything as funny as possible.

There was also a sense of Victorian whimsy to the costumes, sets and other production details (costumes by Joy Zhu.) I particularly liked Dolly’s iconic red dress we get for her iconic “Hello Dolly” number.

As is always the case with Hale the singing in Hello Dolly is top notch. Also the choreography by Afton Wilson is outstanding. Sometimes in theatre in the round you can end up seeing the backside of most of the characters if you get unlucky (recently happened to me at Hale Orem’s Once) but that wasn’t the case here. The multi-layered circular sets moved around enough to make sure everyone got a good view of the action.

Hello Dolly will never be a favorite show of mine but I do respect its role in musical history and it has a couple of bops. However, I would still recommend heading out to Hale to see the show because of the incredible spectacle and quality singing. Plus, they brought out the humor of the show, which was fun.

Michael Hohl is good as Horace Vandergelder but he’s written as kind of a pig so I don’t know how I feel about him and Dolly ending up together. I particularly don’t like his song ”It Takes a Woman.” Gross

It says sold out on many of their shows but there were a lot of empty seats when I went so don’t be afraid to go standby or call the box office to see if any late cancellations. Hello Dolly plays through June 10th and you can find out more here.