With ten years of theater experience, senior Arianne Melton sings and dances her way across the stage this fall as Dolly, the leading role in this year’s musical Hello, Dolly.

Originally produced in 1964, Hello, Dolly will open on Friday, Nov. 22. This is the first time drama teacher Sarah Dempsey has directed this play.

“I think it showcases the talent we have at the time, and it spoke to me,” Dempsey said. “I want people to enjoy life…and that is what this show is about.”

Dempsey did extensive research over the summer before deciding to take on this new challenge, and she used her research as a starting block for directing a play that was new to her.

“I did a lot of dramaturgy of the period and found inspiration just through the period and my own reading. This summer I read the play hundreds of times and tried to visualize different moments and individual characters,” Dempsey said.

Hello, Dolly is a play set in New York in the 1890’s about a widow, Dolly, who is a renowned matchmaker. The play consists of her meddling in the affairs of others, making matches upon their request while secretly pursuing her own agenda: to marry Horace Vandergelder.

“She creates chaos in his life by putting matches together he doesn’t really like and tries to trick him into marrying her,” Dempsey said.

Once she had a clear idea of what the play would look like, Dempsey and choir director Janine Kirstein created a cast of students who would have to sing, dance and act in traditional garb of the late 19th century.

“There’s a lot of elaborate, Victorian-age costumes…with parasols and hats,” Dempsey said. “And having to dance and sing with these props and gloves and boots [will be a challenge] because there are some very elaborate dance numbers.”

According to senior Devin Bailey, who will be playing Horace Vandergelder, one of the hardest obstacles has been fine-tuning character traits.

“My biggest challenge has been getting the right posture and characteristics for such an elegant, formal character,” Bailey said.

Melton is having a similar experience.

“My character is a very sophisticated woman and a matchmaker,” Melton said. “She uses her hands a lot to speak, and I am not one who does that much, so it has been hard getting my hands to work with each other and what I am saying.”

The show is one of taking risks as Dolly works to set up sometimes unlikely matches.

“Hello, Dolly! is a story of taking a chance for adventure and getting out of your comfort zone,” Bailey said.

Despite the challenges of producing a new show and creating intricate characters, the entire cast and crew is working hard toward opening night. Due to the expensive royalties required to produce this play, it will no longer open on a Thursday, as it has in years past. Instead the plan is to open on a Friday, which Dempsey hopes will provide a larger opening-night audience.

Another set back the drama department must deal with is the reconstruction of their stage. The thrust did not previously meet city code, and this was brought to light in July. Reconstruction is set to be finished Friday, Nov. 15, which was the original opening night.

“We had to wait for the permit to be passed by the city of Gresham, which took more time than expected,” Dempsey said. “Things took longer than they should have.”

During reconstruction the cast and crew was unable to work with the large set pieces on the stage, which makes blocking difficult and even unsafe. The week they gain by delaying opening night will allow the performers time to adjust to a new stage and rehearse the show in its entirety.

“This is the first time in 25 years I have had to postpone a show,” Dempsey said. “It is not a decision I easily make and I’m not happy about it, but it’s the best decision for the safety of my students.”

Hello, Dolly will show Nov. 22-23 and 29-30 at 7 p.m., and Sunday matinees are Nov. 24 and Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, and $10 for students and seniors.

“It’s going to be spectacular with the dancing and singing, and it’s a comedy,” Dempsey said. “It really is hysterical, and a show for all ages.”