Beth Leavel in Hello, Dolly! at Ogunquit Playhouse — Page 2

Darn! I chose to see City of Angels instead. Any hope for a Nik Walker/Jordan Danica for Stone/Stein??? Please!

Melissa25 said: "This cast!!! I died and went to heaven. And Adam Heller as Vandergelder. He is my favorite Tevye."

He's played that role before, at Riverside Theatre in Florida, and I had the pleasure of playing in the orchestra for it! It was a wonderful production, and Beth came down to see it and couldn't have been sweeter!

CoffeeBreak said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Fun fact: the show's director, Maggie Burrows, is the daughter of legendary sitcom director James Burrows and granddaughter of GUYS & DOLLS scribe Abe Burrows!"

and a big reason she was handed a very successful career start."



Because directing summer stock at the Ogunquit Playhouse is every "nepo baby" director's dream career start?

Ruthie Anne as Irene is part of the embarrassment of riches here, but what's not to love? Imagine her "Ribbons Down My Back."

everythingtaboo said: "I saw somewhere online today someone actually upset about the supporting cast, that in a normal case these roles would be filled by regional actors, not "stars" like this case. An interesting point."

Ogunquit casts are typically all New York/Broadway actors. And it’s not like Beth and Matt Doyle and Ruthie Ann are “famous” despite being Tony winners — they’re jobbing actors like everyone else.

Yes. We caught this recently. It's a cute enough Dolly - but if you saw it at the MUNY with Beth, you saw the better directed and choreographed production.

The Ogunquit summer stock version is typical Dolly with a nice cast but is not any more interesting than what you would see anywhere else in the country. A fine enough diversion, if you need an outing, but it does not need a life beyond the ME venue, Beth and Matt or not. It's typical summer stock Dolly. The MUNY production among MANY others integrates women into the waiter number etc. Most of this cast has done a version of Dolly before. It's hard to mess up Dolly .

Updated On: 6/25/26 at 11:21 AM

I saw the matinee yesterday, for what will undoubtedly be my first time. The 2018 revival was my introduction to this show. I absolutely fell in love with it and saw it four times (Bette, Bernadette, Betty, Carolee). Yes, Ogunquit Playhouse is more limited in what they can do scenically, but OH MY GOD THIS CAST. Beth Leavel knocks it out of the park with her take on Dolly, and Adam Heller thoroughly charming as Horace. Ruthie Ann Miles is perfection as Irene Malloy, and her chemistry with Matt Doyle brings a depth and a sweetness to their pairing that is just breathtaking. I lost count of the number of times they both had me weeping with joy. I was unfamiliar with the actress playing Minnie Fay, but she's the best I've ever seen in the role.

I feel like that lady in the Grand Hotel commercial. I'm going to see this [two? Three? Ten?] more times, though my husband doesn't work in the area.

A heads-up for those going:

Beth Leavel will be out Thu, June 25
Ruthie Ann Miles will be out Wed, June 24
Cast Talkback: July 1
Open Captioning: July 8-12 (Rows I thru M)
ASL Interpreted: July 15 (8p), July 18 (2p)

I don't recall anything in the set design that would make them partial view.

Jessica Sheridan was the Dolly understudy in the recent revival's touring production. She went on a few times. There are audios of her performance on YouTube. She sounds excellent.

No, the tour. She understudied Betty Buckley

SidebySidebyLogan said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "everythingtaboo said: "I saw somewhere online today someone actually upset about the supporting cast, that in a normal case these roles would be filled by regional actors, not "stars" like this case. An interesting point."

Ogunquit casts are typically all New York/Broadway actors.And it’s not like Beth and Matt Doyle and Ruthie Ann are “famous” despite being Tony winners — they’re jobbing actors like everyone else."

Completely agree with your points but while sitting in the audience of The Light in the Piazza at St. Louis Opera, I overheard a conversation similar to this about Kate Baldwin and Paulo Szot. I'm just happy to get to see performers of this caliber within day trip distance for me but I do wonder what it says about the economics of American theatre that more regional houses/opera companies/arts organizations feel the need for theatre "names" and what that means for regional artists."

Regional theatres cast out of major hubs like New York for a few simple, structural reasons. The biggest is that professional actors tend to live in cities where there is consistent, year round paid work. If you are building a career, you do not base yourself in a market that only offers a handful of contracts a year. Most regional theatres also have AEA contract requirements that mandate a certain number of union performers per production. In many smaller cities, there are not enough local Equity actors to meet those minimums. That is the entire equation: low local supply plus union quotas equals importing talent.
Regional theatres do prefer hiring locals because it saves them thousands in housing and travel, but when the local pool does not include enough union actors or the specific types a show requires, they have no choice but to cast from larger markets. Local performers absolutely get hired, especially for roles that do not require union contracts, but they cannot fill every slot in every show. That is why you see so many out of town actors in regional productions, not snobbery, just math.