The Merchant of Yonkers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Merchant of Yonkers is a play by Thornton Wilder.
John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842. Wilder adapted Nestroy's version into an Americanized comedy entitled The Merchant of Yonkers, which revolves around Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy Yonkers, New York businessman in the market for a wife.
The Broadway production, directed by Max Reinhardt, opened on December 28, 1938 at the Guild Theatre, where it ran for 39 performances. The cast included Jane Cowl and Tom Ewell.
In 1955, Wilder considerably rewrote the play, greatly expanding a previously minor character into the lead role of Dolly Gallagher Levi, and rechristened the piece The Matchmaker, under which title it was far more successful. It later served as the basis for Jerry Herman's 1964 musical hit Hello, Dolly!.
