The Matchmaker is a play by Thornton Wilder. Matchmaking is any expert-run process of introducing people for the purposes of dating and mating, usually in the context of marriage. ... Image:Thorntonwilderteeth. ...

The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842. In 1938, Wilder adapted Nestroy's version into an Americanized comedy entitled The Merchant of Yonkers, which attracted the attention of German director Max Reinhardt, who mounted a Broadway production. It was a dismal failure, running for a mere 39 performances. John Oxenford (August 12, 1812 - February 21, 1877), English dramatist, was born at Camberwell. ... Look up farce in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Einen Jux will er sich machen is a play by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (born December 7, 1801 at Vienna, Austria; died May 25, 1862 at Graz, Austria) was an opera singer, actor and, primarily, a playwright. ... A comedy is a dramatic performance of a light and amusing character, usually with a happy conclusion to its plot. ... The Merchant of Yonkers is a 1938 play by Thornton Wilder. ... A theatre director is a principal in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a play by unifying various endeavors and aspects of production. ... There are two Max Reinhardts: Max Reinhardt (theatre director) Max Reinhardt (publisher) This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ...

Fifteen years later, director Tyrone Guthrie expressed interest in a new production of the play, which Wilder extensively rewrote and rechristened The Matchmaker. The most significant change was the expansion of a previously minor character named Dolly Gallaher Levi, who became the play's centerpiece. A widow who brokers marriages and other transactions in Yonkers, New York at the turn of the 20th Century, she sets her sights on local merchant Horace Vandergelder, who has hired her to find him a wife. After a series of slapstick situations involving mistaken identities, secret rendezvous behind carefully-placed screens, separated lovers, and a trip to night court, everyone finds themselves paired with a perfect match. Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 - 15 May 1971) was a British theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... For other uses, see Slapstick (disambiguation). ...

The play was a success at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West End before finally opening on Broadway on December 5, 1955 at the Royale Theatre, later transferring to the Booth to complete its run of 486 performances. Ruth Gordon's performance in the title role earned her a Tony Award nomination as Best Actress; Guthrie won as Best Director. There is no one Edinburgh Festival but those using the term are usually referring to the collection of various festivals in August and early September of each year in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... This article is about the country. ... The present-day Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, sketched when it was new, in 1813. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, England, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland. Along with New Yorks Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre... is the 339th day of the year (340th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... The Royale Theatre is located on 45th Street in Manhattans Theatre District. ... The Booth Theatre in 2006 The Booth Theatre on September 25, 2005 The Booth Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 222 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan. ... Ruth Gordon (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress and screenwriter who was perhaps best known for her role as the oversolicitous neighbor in Roman Polanskis adaptation of Ira Levins novel Rosemarys Baby, for which she won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Supporting... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ...

The 1958 film version, adapted by John Michael Hayes and directed by Joseph Anthony, starred Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Ford, and Robert Morse. The MatchMaker is a 1997 romantic comedy about a cynical American woman who reluctantly visits the West of Ireland. ... John Michael Hayes (born May 11, 1919) an American playwright. ... Joseph Anthony (May 24, 1912– January 20, 1993) was an American playwright and director from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ... Shirley Booth (August 30, 1898 – October 16, 1992) was an acclaimed American actress. ... Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning American stage and screen actor best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho and its three sequels. ... Shirley MacLaine (born April 24, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American film and theatre actress, well-known not only for her acting, but for her devotion to her belief in reincarnation and aliens. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Robert Morse (b. ...

In 1964, the play enjoyed yet another incarnation when David Merrick, who had produced the 1955 Broadway production, mounted a hugely successful, Tony Award-winning musical version entitled Hello, Dolly!, with a score by Jerry Herman and starring Carol Channing. David Merrick (November 27, 1911 - April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer and director, associated with both musicals and dramas, brilliant successes and embarrassing fl ops. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilders 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. ... Jerry Herman Jerry Herman (born Gerald Herman on July 10, 1933 in New York City) is an American composer/lyricist of the Broadway musical theater. ... Carol Elaine Channing (born on January 31, 1921 in Seattle, Washington) is an American singer and actress. ...

Tom Stoppard's farce, On the Razzle (1981) is yet another play based on the same story.

Characters and original Broadway cast

• Horace Vandergelder, a Merchant of Yonkers – Loring Smith
• Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi, a Friend of Vandergelder's Late Wife – Ruth Gordon
• Irene Molloy, a Milliner – Eileen Herlie
• Minnie Fay, Mrs. Molloy's Assistant – Rosamund Greenwood
• Cornelius Hackl, Clerk in Vandergelder's Store – Arthur Hill
• Barnaby Tucker, Apprentice in Vandergelder's Store – Robert Morse
• Miss Flora Van Husen, a Friend of Vandergelder's Late Wife – Esme Church
• Malachi Stack – Patrick McAlinney
• Ambrose Kemper, Artist – Alexander Davion
• Gertrude, Vandergelder's Housekeeper – Charity Grace
• Miss Van Huysen's Cook – Christine Thomas
• Rudolf, Waiter – William Lanteau
• Joe Scanlon, a Barber – Philip Leeds
• August, Waiter – John Mulligan

Ruth Gordon (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress and screenwriter who was perhaps best known for her role as the oversolicitous neighbor in Roman Polanskis adaptation of Ira Levins novel Rosemarys Baby, for which she won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Supporting... Eileen Herlie (born Eileen Herlihy on March 8, 1920) is a Scottish-American actress. ... Arthur Hill (born August 1, 1922 in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada) is an actor in British and American theater, movies and TV. He attended the University of British Columbia and continued his acting studies in Seattle, Washington. ... Robert Morse (b. ...

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing
• Internet Movie Database listing