For our twenty-second production, The Players
presented Thornton Wilder’s enduring classic comedy
farce, The Matchmaker. Wilder’s acclaimed 1955 production
spawned Jerry Herman’s 1963 musical hit, Hello Dolly! However,
the evolution of the character  “Dolly Levi”  is traced back to French
playwright Moliere’s The Miser and even beyond.  Over the centuries
other playwrights have used the source material for several plays, including an early adaptation by Wilder himself, staged in 1938 titled The Merchant of Yonkers.  That production failed to reach an audience.  However, Tyrone Gutherie pushed Wilder to rewrite the piece, and the new work evolved under its new title, The Matchmaker, as staged in 1955, and resulted in a great success. It is a farce in the old-fashioned sense - a stylish comedy
romp with chases, mistaken identities, hiding in closets and under
tables, men dressed as women, all within a complex conspiracy -
to bring two couples together in a happy ending.

 The Players’ production of The Matchmaker proved
to be one of our all-time audience favorites -
  splendidly played by a superb cast!