Olney Theatre Center continues its tradition of big holiday musicals with Hello, Dolly! in the Roberts Mainstage (November 6 – January 4). Two-time Helen Hayes Award-winner Nova Y. Payton stars as the meddling matchmaker Dolly Levi in a production directed by Kevin S. McAllister, choreographed by Eamon Foley, and music direction by Christopher Youstra. Tickets are available to the public from $27 – $112 and can be purchased at olneytheatre.org/hellodolly or by calling the box office at 301-924-3400.
To accommodate family audiences, the regular curtain times for this productionwill be adjusted to 7:00 pm for evening performances and 1:00 pm for matinees.
Says Olney Theatre’s Senior Associate Artistic Director Hallie Gordon, “Hello, Dolly! is a true classic of American musical theater that everyone should experience. Director Kevin McAllister, Music Director Chris Youstra, and Choreographer Eamon Foley are creating a vibrant production that honors the timeless story. While the show evokes a ‘simpler’ time when women were often relegated to being wives and homemakers, Dolly is a force of nature — she’s out of this world. In the end, she gets exactly what she wants, spreading love and wealth as she goes.”
In addition to Payton, Broadway veteran Moses Villarama (Here Lies Love) makes his Olney Theatre debut as the irascible bachelor (and “half-millionaire”) Horace Vandergelder, whom Dolly marks for marriage. Michael Perrie Jr. (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and Rick DeVon Hall (Disney’s Frozen) star as Cornelius and Barnaby, Horace’s clerks, headed for an adventure in the city. Caitlin Brooke (Ford’s Theatre’s Sister Act) and Alex De Bard (Disney’s Frozen) play hat shop owner Irene Molloy and her assistant Minnie Fay. Wood Van Meter (Waitress) plays Ambrose Kemper, who seeks Dolly’s help wooing Horace’s niece Ermengarde, played by Anna Maria C. Ferrari. Montel B. Butler (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) plays Rudolph the maître d’, and Karen Vincent (World Goes Round) handles the role of the eccentric Ernestina Money, as well as serving as the understudy for Dolly. Rounding out the ensemble are Eve Dillingham, Ciara Hargrove, Delaney Jackson, Alyssa Enita Stanford, Taryn Smithson, Ava Wilson, Quadry Brown, Patrick Leonardo Casimir, Matthew Millin, Robert Mintz, Nico Nazal, and Eli Schulman. Emmy J. Lane and James B. Mernin swing for the 9-week-long run.
Joining McAllister, Foley, and Youstra on the creative team are Riw Rakkulchon (Scenic Designer), Paris Francesca and Julie Cray-Leong (Co-Costume Designers), Rueben D. Echoles (Wig Designer), Christina Watanabe (Lighting Designer), and Matthew Rowe (Sound Designer). Ben Walsh is the Production Stage Manager, with Assistant Stage Managers Fior Tat and Kate Kilbane.
Hello, Dolly! runs November 6, 2025 – January 4, 2026 in the Roberts Mainstage at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday matinees at 1:00 pm, and select Sunday evenings at 7:00 pm. Additional performances will take place around Thanksgiving and Winter Break. Tickets range from $27 – $112 and are available at olneytheatre.org/hellodolly or by calling the box office at 301-924-3400. Discounts for teachers, active military, and first responders are available at: olneytheatre.org/discounts
Accessible Performances
Audio-Described Performance – Wednesday, November 19 at 7:00 pm
ASL Interpreted Performance – Thursday, November 20 at 7:30 pm
Sensory Friendly Performance – Saturday, December 6 at 1:00 pm
ABOUT OLNEY THEATRE CENTER
Mission
Olney Theatre Center for the Arts produces and curates theatrical performance for the diverse audiences in its community, and educates, learns from, supports and inspires a more inclusive generation of theater-makers.
Vision
Olney strives to become an arts and culture powerhouse, redefining the American regional theater movement by cultivating and sharing the creativity of its community.
History
Founded in 1938 as a summer playhouse, Olney Theatre Center now produces year-round world and American premieres of plays and musicals, and reimaginings of familiar titles; presents the work of leading companies; tours nationally and locally; teaches students of all ages; and mentors the next generation of theater-makers. For more than 8 decades, Olney Theatre has brought impactful theater performance and education to its community, helping to grow the vibrancy and vitality of its home in central Maryland.
Over the years, some of the biggest names in theater and film have appeared on Olney stages, including Tallulah Bankhead, Helen Hayes, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Bob Fosse, Phillip Bosco, Eve Arden, Eva Gabor, Burl Ives, Jose Ferrer, Carol Channing, Olivia de Havilland, Tony Randall, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Jane Seymour, Anne Revere, Frances Sternhagen, Arthur Treacher, James Broderick, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen, Marcia Gay Harden, John Colicos, Uzo Aduba, Alan Cumming, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin de Jesus, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, among many, many others.
Olney Theatre is now the cultural anchor of a rapidly changing region and serves one of the most diverse, best educated, and wealthiest counties in the country. Situated on the unceded land of the Piscataway-Conoy people, the Olney area was once a rural farming community with a unique Quaker heritage. Now the area is occupied by every kind of family that makes up 21st-century America, along with major corporations, shopping districts, civic associations, nonprofit organizations and a diverse collection of houses of worship. Montgomery County’s 1 million residents play a dynamic role in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, and are a driving force behind the region’s creative economy.
