The Matchmaker is the kind of play where you notice something new with every viewing, even after months of rehearsal and preparation. It’s about beholding other people not just as mindless ants marching by, but as God’s greatest works. It’s about putting yourself out there and making a change instead of letting life pass you by. It’s about making a fool of yourself for love. It’s about challenging preconceived notions and starting over with friends old and new. 

And, it’s hilarious!  A year ago, when a friend came to see Catholic Young Adults: The Musical, the first thing he said about it was “It was just so good to laugh.” That stuck in my head. We can all use a little more laughter in our lives, and the theater is one of the most communal places to share it with others. While The Matchmaker has many heartfelt themes, it is first and foremost a farce, full of physical comedy and self-aware humor. 

The Matchmaker is the play that inspired the wildly popular musical Hello, Dolly!, and musical theater fans might wonder why we chose the former over the latter. One of the main reasons, for me, is that in the absence of the sheer quantity of music required of a musical, a play has the opportunity for far more expansive dialogue and character development. I’ve loved getting to know Dolly, Cornelius, Horace, Irene, and all the rest. And, you might be surprised to learn that there is also music in this world. The script itself calls for a few specific songs, and we’ve incorporated music from the time period in a few other places as well. This was my vision from the beginning: to incorporate the very real way that music pops up in unexpected places in everyday life – particularly in a big city on a summer’s day. 

With this show, Missed the Boat is creating opportunities and challenging artists in ways that are all new for us: deep-diving into a new time period, building our largest set ever, integrating diegetic music, and highlighting physical comedy. At the same time, we are telling a story that, if you look beyond the goofy characters and the ridiculous amount of hats, reflects meaningfully on the ways God guides us and speaks to us, the dynamism of the human person, and how the struggles and challenges of being human are the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

Samantha Wend Vargo, Director and MTBT Executive Director