Jerry Herman's musical (with book by Michael Stewart) based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker was one of the last great old-style musicals and a massive hit. Even today, its songs (including the title track, "Before the Parade Passes By," and "So Long Dearie") are so memorable most people can hum them.
Herman used a turn-of-the-century, major-chord, big-melody approach, effectively kidded and overcome by
Carol Channing in the title role. It's precisely because
Channing doesn't quite have the range for these melodies that she's able to express the character so well (an effect lost in the
Barbra Streisand movie version, though
Streisand has no trouble expressing character in other ways). And the supporting cast, including
Charles Nelson Reilly,
Eileen Brennan, and
David Burns, is ideal. ~ William Ruhlmann