Hello, Dolly! Dramaturgy Packet

CODE:

ENSEMBLE (E), DOLLY (D), HORACE (H), CORNELIUS (C), MRS. MOLLOY (IM), MINNIE (M), RUDOLPH (R)

Act 1 Scene 1:

NEWYORKCITY

SPINSTERS (E): WOMEN WHOSE UNMARRIED STATUS ALLOWED THEM TO REMAIN IN THE WORKFORCE

ADA REHAN (D): AN IRISH AMERICAN ACTRESS & COMEDIAN FROM NEW YORK

“SURGICAL CORSETS RE-BONED” (D): PROCESS OF IMPROVING A CORSET’S FRAME AND RIGIDITY

DIFFIDENT (D): SHY, MODEST

BEAU (D): A RICH, FASHIONABLE MALE ADMIRER

APLOMB (D): SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ASSURANCE

FRUMP (D): AN UNATTRACTIVE WOMAN WHO WEARS UNFASHIONABLE CLOTHES

TRUMP (D): AN ADMIRABLE PERSON

COUNTENANCE (D): A PERSON’S FACE OR FACIAL

VANDERGELDER'SFEEDSTORE

SHEEP DIP (H): LIQUID USED TO PRESERVE SHEEP WOOL FROM PARASITES

DRESDEN (H): PORCELAIN

GUERNSEY (H): A BREED OF DAIRY COW

PROSTRATE (D): LYING FACE DOWN

GREENBACK (D): EMERGENCY DOLLAR BILLS PRINTED DURING THE CIVIL WAR

BRILLIANTINE (C): PRODUCT FOR MEN'S HAIR, BEARDS, AND MUSTACHES

DIME CIGAR (C): IN THE 1890S, CIGARS WERE TAXED ACCORDING TO THEIR VALUE, WHICH WAS DESIGNATED BY THEIR CLASS. CLASS A WAS THE CHEAPEST, AND CLASS E WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE.

DIME CIGARS WERE CLASS C, SO IN THIS CONTEXT BUYING A DIME CIGAR IS CORNELIUS’S IDEA OF A SPLURGE

DELMONICO’S (C): OLDEST STEAKHOUSE IN AMERICA.

FIRST RESTAURANT TO SERVE WOMEN WITHOUT REQUIRING A MAN TO BE WITH HER

BOWLER BRIM (E): HATS INVENTED BY THE BOWLER BROTHERS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO TOP HATS. ALLOWED UPPER CLASS MEN TO RIDE HORSES WITHOUT THEIR HATS

FALLING OFF. LATER BECAME KNOWN AS DURABLE HATS SUITABLE FOR THE EVERYDAY MAN

SLICKER (E): LONG RAINCOAT

HOSE (E): STOCKINGS

VALISES (D): SUITCASES

CRAVAT (E): NECKTIE

PATENT SHOES (E): PATENT LEATHER GIVES SHOES THEIR GLOSSY FINISH

THE ASTORS (E): A FAMILY THAT AMASSED A FORTUNE FROM THE FUR TRADE, AND BEGAN TO INVEST IN NYC REAL ESTATE

TONY PASTOR (E): A FAMOUS AMERICAN PERFORMER AND THEATER OWNER

MRS.MOLLOY'SHATSHOP

“WILD HORSES CAN’T MAKE ME ASK THIS NEXT QUESTION" (M): EXPRESSION MEANING, EVEN A STRONG FORCE OUTSIDE OF HUMAN CONTROL COULDN’T GET HER TO DO IT

“EASIER FOR US TO VAMPIRE” (IM): EASIER TO SEDUCE, CAPTURE, ETC

JENNY LIND (D): A SWEDISH OPERA SINGER WHO HAD A VERY POPULAR TOUR IN THE US

GETTYSBURG (IM) (D): THE TURNING POINT BATTLE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

TRIUMPHAL ARCH (IM) (D): DEWEY ARCH HONORED ADMIRAL DEWEY HIS SERVICE IN THE US NAVY

TRAMPING (IM) (D): WALKING

GRAPES OF WRATH (IM) (D): A FAMOUS BOOK THAT CAPTURED THE STRUGGLE OF THE DUST BOWL AND GREAT DEPRESSION

THE BRIDGE AT WATERLOO (IM): BUILT TO COMMEMORATE THE BRITISH & ALLIED FORCES DEFEAT OF NAPOLEON

“SINGING ‘DIXIE’” (IM): A RACIST SONG SUNG BY WHITE ACTORS DOING BLACKFACE IN MINSTREL SHOWS. THE LYRICS ARE ABOUT A FREED FORMER SLAVE THAT MISSES HIS PLANTATION. IT EVENTUALLY BECAME THE UNOFFICIAL ANTHEM OF THE CONFEDERACY.

“ALAMO, REMEMBER THE ALAMO” (D): THE ALAMO IS A SPANISH MISSION IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. IN THE FIGHT FOR TEXAS TO GAIN INDEPENDENCE FROM MEXICO, THE ALAMO WAS TAKEN OVER BY MEXICAN FORCES.

“REMEMBER THE ALAMO” IS A BATTLE CRY USED WHEN ONE IS FIGHTING UNTIL THE VERY END.

“ONE, IF BY LAND, AND TWO, IF BY SEA” (D): REFERENCE TO PAUL REVERE’S SECRET SIGNAL, WHICH TOLD THE PATRIOTS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR THAT THE BRITISH WERE COMING TO CONCORD

NOTE: THIS WAS NOT ACTUALLY SAID BY LINCOLN

“YES, DAD, I CHOPPED THAT CHERRY TREE DOWN” (D): THE MYTH IS THAT AS A YOUNG BOY, GEORGE WASHINGTON CHOPPED DOWN A CHERRY TREE THAT HE SHOULD'NT HAVE. HE THEN CONFESSED DOING SO TO HIS FATHER, WHICH IS MEANT TO REPRESENT THE IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY. HOWEVER, THIS NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED, AND IS A MYTH MADE UP BY A MAN WHO WROTE A BOOK ABOUT HIM.

STONEWALL JACKSON (D): SLAVE OWNER AND CONFEDERATE GENERAL DURING THE CIVIL WAR

“TO FORM A PERFECT UNION!” (M): PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION. IN THIS SONG, THE PHRASE REPRESENTS BRINGING THE STATES TOGETHER UNDER A STRONG NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AFTER THE FAILURE OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION.

“DAMN THE TORPEDOES, FULL SPEED AHEAD!” (D): SHOUTED BY UNION NAVAL OFFICER DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT IN HIS REFUSAL TO RETREAT. THEY WENT ON TO DEFEAT CONFEDERATE FORCES AT THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY.

TORPEDOES WERE CONTACT ACTIVATED MINES USED BY THE CONFEDERACY

WRITS (D): AN ORDER OR DIRECTIVE ISSUED BY A COURT

NON COMPOS MENTIS (D): A LEGAL

PHRASE MEANING “OF UNSOUND MIND”

MINT (D): COIN MANUFACTURER

SWEET ROSIE O’GRADY (D): A 1940S

MUSICAL FILM ABOUT AN AMERICAN SINGER NAMED ROSIE WHO MARRIES AN ENGLISH DUKE

OUTSIDEOFHARMONIAGARDENS

HACK (IM) (C): A HORSE USED TO PULL A COACH

STREET CAR (C): A FANCIER AND MORE EXPENSIVE METHOD OF TRANSPORTATION

“DIAMOND JIMS” (IM): JIM BRADY WAS A BUSINESSMAN WHO ACQUIRED A FORTUNE ON WALL STREET DURING THE GILDED AGE. JIM WAS KNOWN FOR WEARING EXTRAVAGANT DIAMONDS TO IMPRESS THE BROADWAY ELITES THAT HE HOSTED IN HIS CLUB

HARMONIAGARDENSRESTAURANT

PÂTÉ MAISON (R): GROUND PORK AND CHICKEN LIVER

SOUPE DE JOUR (R): THE SOUP OF THE DAY

POMMES SOUFFLÉES (R): PUFFY

FRIED POTATOES

NOTE: HORACE CALLS THE RESTAURANT AN “ORIENTAL ESTABLISHMENT”, BUT ALL OF THESE DISHES ARE FRENCH

“GREAT GRINDSTONES!” (C):

EXPRESSION MEANING TO PERSEVERE THROUGH A HARD TIME

GIBLETS (D): THE HEART, LIVER, AND NECK OF A BIRD

Act 2 Scene 3:

COURTROOM,VANDERGELDER'SFEED STORE

E PROBOSCUS UNUM (D): A PARODY OF THE LATIN PHRASE MEANING “OUT OF MANY ONE,” WHICH IS THE MOTTO OF THE UNITED STATES. HERE, DOLLY IS MAKING FUN OF THE JUDGE’S APPEARANCE, AND SAYS THIS TO MOCK HIM

BENEFACTRESS (D): A CHARITABLE WOMAN

✧ FASHION ✧

THE 1890S WAS DUBBED “THE NEW WOMEN” ERA

THE NUMBER OF WORKING WOMEN DOUBLED, AS DID THE NUMBER OF WOMEN PARTICIPATING IN SPORTS

TO REFLECT THESE SHIFTING GENDER ROLES, PETTICOATS WENT OUT OF STYLE IN FAVOR OF FLOWING SKIRTS

HOWEVER, WOMEN WEARING PANTS WAS STILL CONTROVERSIAL

A DAYTIME OUTFIT PREVIOUSLY ONLY CONSISTED OF WHITE AND BLACK PIECES. COLORS WERE CONSIDERED BOLD AND REPRESENTED FREEDOM AND SHIFTING STANDARDS

THE PUFFED “LEG-O-MUTTON” SLEEVE WAS POPULAR IN EVENING GOWNS

SOME CORSETS WERE VENTILATED TO OFFSET THE HEAT OF ALL THE LAYERS

MEN USUALLY WORE THREE PIECE SUITS

NOT SO FUN FACT: THE WILD BIRD POPULATION DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY BECAUSE OF THE HIGH DEMAND FOR FEATHERED HATS

Gender Roles

ANY LYRIC FROM “IT TAKES A WOMAN” DESCRIBES THE IDEAL AMERICAN WOMAN: A STAY AT HOME MOTHER, WHOSE MAIN CONCERN WAS CHILD REARING, HOUSE DUTIES, AND MEETING HER HUSBAND’S EVERY NEED.

HOWEVER, THIS WAS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE FOR WOMEN OF POORER FAMILIES. MEN THAT WERE UNSKILLED LABORERS (SUCH AS FACTORY WORKERS) OFTEN COULD NOT PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES ON THEIR OWN. BECAUSE OF THIS, MANY WOMEN CONTRIBUTED TO THE HOUSEHOLD INCOME BY BECOMING FACTORY WORKERS, TAKING ON OFFICE JOBS, OR BECOMING SECRETARIES, NURSES, OR TEACHERS IF THEY HAD THE EDUCATION. ADDITIONALLY, 3/4S OF THE WORKFORCE IN 1890 WERE SPINSTERS.

LARGER LABOR UNIONS OFTEN DID NOT ALLOW WOMEN INTO THEIR MEMBERSHIP. THOUGH SOME WOMEN MADE IT THROUGH, THERE WERE STILL MANY BARRIERS TO PURSUING PROFESSIONS SUCH AS SCIENCE, LAW, AND MEDICINE. OTHERS WANTED TO STAY HOME, AND CONTINUED TO ADVOCATE THAT A WOMAN’S GREATEST CONCERN WAS WITH THE HOME, HER HUSBAND, AND HER CHILDREN.

AS A WIDOW, DOLLY HAS TO PROVIDE FOR HERSELF DURING A TIME WHEN WOMEN--WHILE MAKING THEIR WAY INTO THE WORKFORCE--WERE HIGHLY RESTRICTED. HER LARGE AMASS OF ODD JOBS REFLECTS THIS, AS DOES HER PURSUIT OF HORACE VANDERGELDER FOR HIS MONEY.

Greater US History

HELLO, DOLLY TAKES PLACE IN THE 1890S, AT THE TAIL END OF THE GILDED AGE AND IN THE BEGINNING OF THE PROGRESSIVE ERA.

THE GILDED AGE WAS A PERIOD OF TIME (1870-1890) CHARACTERIZED BY EXTREME WEALTH INEQUALITY. THE POOR WERE INTENSELY POOR AND THE RICH WERE INTENSELY RICH. ONE OF THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THIS WAS THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. THIS CREATED A NEW CONSUMERIST CULTURE AND INCREASED URBANIZATION.

IN HELLO DOLLY!, WE SEE CORNELIUS AND BARNABY INITIALLY STRUGGLE TO LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF MRS. MOLLOY AND MINNIE. THE WIDTH OF THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND POOR AT THIS TIME IS WHAT RAISES THE STAKES IN THE RESTAURANT SCENE.

THE RISE OF INDUSTRY AND NEW, MORE EFFICIENT METHODS OF PRODUCTION LED TO A WIDE VARIETY OF PRODUCTS BECOMING MORE EASILY ACCESSIBLE. DEPARTMENT STORES SUCH AS MACY’S BEGAN OPENING IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY AND BECAME MORE POPULAR AS TIME PASSED. DUE TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, DEPARTMENT STORES AND CATALOGS (FOR EXAMPLE, SEARS) HAD A WIDE VARIETY OF PRODUCTS AT A LOWER COST.

Greater US HistoryCont .

THIS IS THE INDUSTRY THAT HORACE VANDERGELDER WAS APART OF. ADDITIONALLY, THIS NEW CONSUMERIST CULTURE WOULD HAVE ALLOWED CORNELIUS TO SUCCESSFULLY OPEN HIS OWN HAY AND FEED STORE ACROSS THE STREET (IF DOLLY HADN'T STEPPED IN).

HORACE’S POOR TREATMENT OF HIS WORKERS --WHILE SATIRICAL-- REFLECTS A COMMON ATTITUDE HELD BY BUSINESS OWNERS AT THE TIME. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA, FROM ~1890-1920, AIMED TO CORRECT SOME OF THESE ISSUES. REFORMS REGARDING SANITATION, WORKERS SALARIES, AND WORKING CONDITIONS WERE PASSED AT THIS TIME.

URBANIZATION IS THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE FROM RURAL AREAS TO URBAN AREAS, USUALLY IN SEARCH OF EMPLOYMENT AND BETTER WAGES. THIS FURTHER CONTRIBUTED TO OVERCROWDING IN NEW YORK CITY. MANY OF THE POOR WERE SHOVED INTO TENEMENT HOUSES—WHICH WERE CRAMPED, CROWDED, PRONE TO CATCHING FIRE, AND PRONE TO SPREADING DISEASE.

THE EXTREME POVERTY FACED BY MANY AT THE TIME INCREASES THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PUTTING ON ONE’S SUNDAY CLOTHES. IN COMPARISON TO ONE’S USUAL RAGS AND TORN FABRICS, A SUNDAY CHURCH OUTFIT WAS SPECIAL.

NewYork Specific History

IN 1890, THE BOOK HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES EXPOSED THE DISMAL LIVING CONDITIONS OF THE POOR OF NEW YORK. THE LOWER EAST SIDE OF MANHATTAN HAD BOTH THE WORLD'S HIGHEST POPULATION DENSITY WORST POVERTY RATES. ON FIFTH AVENUE, HOWEVER, MILLIONAIRES BUILT EXTRAVAGANT MANSIONS.

FIFTH AVENUE WAS WHERE MANY WHITE, WEALTHY NEW YORKERS ENDED UP CONGREGATING. THEY FELT THAT “THEIR” NEW YORK SHOULD BE DEFINED BY GREAT WEALTH, NOT THE POVERTY SEEN ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY. TO SAFEGUARD THEMSELVES AGAINST RIOTS FROM THE POOR, THEY BUILT ARMORIES WITH A VOLUNTEER REGIMENT SYSTEM. THIS IS THE SOCIAL SCENE THAT HORACE IS APART OF.

THE WEALTHY WOULD OFTEN ATTEND EVENTS SUCH AS OPERA, BALLET, ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCES, AND SHAKESPEARE PERFORMANCES. HARMONIA GARDENS REFLECTS THE TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT THAT THE RICH WOULD BE FOUND IN.

YONKERS IS A SUBURB RIGHT OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK CITY. INDUSTRIALIZATION DROVE ITS GROWTH IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, TRANSFORMING IT INTO A GROWING MANUFACTURING POWERHOUSE. THE FIRST GOLF COURSE WAS BUILT IN YONKERS, AND THE ELITE FLOCKED TO IT. OTHER SPORTS SUCH AS GOLF, TENNIS, ROWING, YACHTING, AND HORSE RACING WERE OFTEN ALSO DONE BY THE WEALTHY IN YONKERS.

Additional Photos

THE DEWEY ARCH

DOLLY'S GRAND ENTRANCE ON BROADWAY

Additional Photos from1890

Additional Photos from1890

The End

We hope you enjoyed the show! - The Dramatrugy Team

"Well, Horace it looks like I've nothing left to say but...

goodbye...."