The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.

It starred stage performer Carol Channing as Dolly Gallagher Levi, a role theatrical audiences of the world would forever associate with her.

originated in the 1835 English play A Day Well Spent by John Oxenford, which Johann Nestroy adapted into the farce Einen Jux will er sich machen (He Will Go on a Spree or He'll Have Himself a Good Time) in 1842.

had rocky tryouts in Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, D.C.[6] After receiving the reviews, the creators made major changes to the script and score, including the addition of the song "Before the Parade Passes By".

Dolly makes a living through what she calls "meddling" – matchmaking and numerous sidelines, including dance instruction and mandolin lessons ("I Put My Hand In").

Ambrose enlists Dolly's help, and they travel to Yonkers, New York to visit Horace, who is a prominent citizen there and owns Vandergelder's Hay and Feed.

Horace explains to his two clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, that he is going to get married because "It Takes a Woman" to cheerfully do all the household chores.

He plans to travel with Dolly to New York City to march in the Fourteenth Street Association Parade and propose to the widow Irene Molloy, who owns a hat shop there.

Dolly mentions that she knows two ladies in New York they should call on: Irene Molloy and her shop assistant, Minnie Fay.

Dolly arranges for Cornelius and Barnaby, who are still pretending to be rich, to take the ladies out to dinner to the Harmonia Gardens restaurant to make up for their humiliation.

The next morning, back at the hay and feed store, Cornelius and Irene, Barnaby and Minnie, and Ambrose and Ermengarde each set out on new life's paths.

^Horace Vandergelder's solo "Penny in My Pocket", although it received rave responses out of town, was cut prior to the Broadway opening for reasons of time.

The song "Elegance", though credited to Herman, was written by Bob Merrill for the 1957 show New Girl in Town but deleted from the original production.

[39] The musical, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick, opened on January 16, 1964, at the St. James Theatre and closed on December 27, 1970, after 2,844 performances.

[40] Carol Channing starred as Dolly, with a supporting cast that included David Burns as Horace, Charles Nelson Reilly as Cornelius, Eileen Brennan as Irene, Jerry Dodge as Barnaby, Sondra Lee as Minnie Fay, Mary Jo Catlett as Ermengarde, and Igors Gavon as Ambrose.

The run was not continuous, unlike My Fair Lady, with several week-long breaks, including a week where the production moved to St.

Jack Goode played Horace, alongside Bill Millican as Cornelius, Jill Perryman as Irene, Tikki Taylor as Minnie Fay, and Brian Hannan as Barnaby.

Champion directed and choreographed, and the cast starred Mary Martin as Dolly (after she, as well as Merman, had turned down the role for the original run of the show) and Loring Smith as Horace Vandergelder.

Smith had created the Horace role in the original Broadway production of The Matchmaker, Johnny Beecher as Barnaby, Garrett Lewis as Cornelius, Mark Alden as Ambrose Kemper, and Marilynn Lovell as Irene Molloy.

Kerryson would subsequently direct the 2014 Curve Theatre (Leicester) production of Hello, Dolly!, headlined by Janie Dee whose castmates included Laura Pitt-Pulford as Irene and Michael Xavier as Cornelius.

The 2009 Regent's Park Open Air Theatre revival of Hello, Dolly, headlined by Samantha Spiro under the direction of Timothy Sheader, ran July 30 – September 12, with other cast members including Allan Corduner (Horace), Josefina Gabrielle (Irene), and Akiya Henry (Minnie Fay).

[73] Other principal casting for this revival included Kate Baldwin as Irene Molloy, Gavin Creel as Cornelius Hackl, Jennifer Simard as Ernestina Money, Taylor Trensch as Barnaby Tucker, Will Burton as Ambrose Kemper, Melanie Moore as Ermengarde,[74] and Beanie Feldstein as Minnie Fay.

[75] Donna Murphy played the role of Dolly at Tuesday evening performances beginning in June 2017, as well as covering Midler's holiday dates.

[33][77] Santino Fontana temporarily played the role of Cornelius Hackl from March 2018 to May 6 while Gavin Creel recovered from back surgery.

[80] Betty Buckley played the title role in the first national tour of the 2017 Broadway revival, which began performances in Cleveland, Ohio in October 2018 in the Connor Palace at Playhouse Square, after a tryout in Utica, New York in September 2018.

[100]John Chapman of the New York Daily News lauded Carol Channing's performance, declaring her "the most outgoing woman on the musical stage today – big and warm, all eyes and smiles, in love with everybody in the theatre and possessing a unique voice ranging somewhat upward from a basso profundo."

... Channing opens wide her big-as-millstone eyes, spreads her white-gloved arms in ecstatic abandon, trots out on a circular runway that surrounds the orchestra, and proceeds to dance rings around the conductor.

[101] John McClain of the New York Journal American particularly praised the staging of the musical, saying that Gower Champion deserves the big gong for performance beyond the call of duty.

In 1967, RCA Victor released a recording of the all-black Broadway replacement cast, featuring Pearl Bailey, who also starred in the unrecorded 1975 revival.

[127] The 2017 Broadway Revival cast recording was released on May 12, 2017, featuring the songs now sung by Bette Midler, David Hyde Pierce, Kate Baldwin, and Gavin Creel.