In 1964, the hit musical Hello Dolly! won a whopping ten Tony Awards and turned Carol Channing into a star. Forty years later, the story, a sweet, wacky tale of love and shenanigans mixed in with some good old brassy Broadway tunes, still delivers. The confection of music and costumes is about a matchmaker named Dolly (played by the gorgeous Leslie Uggams) who makes her living by meddling in other peopleยs business. She gets hired by an old grump (Lewis J. Stadlen) who needs a wife to help him run his life. What the old dude doesnยt know is that Dollyยs pinned her own hopes on him. But thereยs love enough to go around. Shop girls, clerks and friends all get their heartstrings plucked before the show is over, and, of course, we get to hear that little tune made famous by Louis Armstrong. How did that go again? 8 p.m. daily, from Tuesday, February 26, through Sunday, March 9. Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713-558-8887 or visit www.tuts.com. $29 to $93
Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Starts: Feb. 26. Continues through March 9, 2008
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2008.