INDIANAPOLIS — Irvington resident Laura Kelley will reprise the heralded role of nosy matchmaker Dolly Levi in the Garfield Shakespeare Company’s spring presentation of The Matchmaker, the Thornton Wilder play that inspired the stage and film musical Hello, Dolly!
The Matchmaker marks Kelley’s debut with the all-volunteer Garfield Shakespeare Company (GSC) — and her first theatrical role since college. While attending DePauw University (Class of 2008), where she majored in religious studies and Spanish, she sang with the DePauwCappella singing group and participated in the school’s theatrical productions Sweeney Todd; Our Town, another Thornton Wilder play in which she had the role of Mrs. Gibbs; and Children of Eden, in which she played Eve, a role she considers her all-time favorite.
Kelley was raised in Cincinnati and performed in high school theater there. She came to Indianapolis after graduating DePauw to join the Indianapolis Corps of Teach for America, an organization of recent college graduates and professionals who commit to teaching for two years in high-needs public schools and becoming lifelong leaders and advocates in the campaign to expand educational opportunity. While doing that, she earned her Master of Arts degree in teaching at Marian University. Kelley now works for Stand for Children, a non-profit leadership development and training program that identifies and advocates strategies to improve education achievement at the primary and secondary levels.
The Matchmaker marks the second time, since forming in 2008, that GSC has diverted from Shakespeare in one of its two annual productions. In spring 2011, the troupe performed Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, the play that inspired the stage and motion picture musical My Fair Lady. The Matchmaker is presented as the musical version —Hello, Dolly! — nears its 50th anniversary observance. The show opened on Broadway in 1964, and the Dolly role has been played on stage by such notable actresses as Carol Channing, Ginger Rogers, Martha Rae, Pearl Bailey, Ethel Mermen and even Phyllis Diller. In the 1969 motion picture adaptation, Barbra Streisand played the Dolly role.
The Matchmaker, directed by GSC artistic director Joe Cook, will be performed at the Garfield Park Arts Center, 2432 Conservatory Drive, Indianapolis, in Garfield Park. Shows are at 7 p.m. March 8-9 and 15-16 and 2:30 p.m. March 17. Admission is free, but donations are enthusiastically welcomed. The arts center asks you to call ahead of time, during normal business hours, to secure seating. The center’s phone number is (317) 327-7135. Hours of operation are 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
