Libertyville High School alums find common ground on Chicago-bound 'Hello, Dolly!' tour
When the national tour of “Hello, Dolly!” sets up shop at Chicago's Oriental Theatre starting Tuesday, it's likely that all eyes will be on star Betty Buckley. But local audiences should also be on the lookout for two Libertyville natives in the ensemble of this classic 1964 musical by Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart.
Broadway veteran and 2001 Libertyville High School graduate Ian Liberto was cast in the national tour after completing a run in the original 2017 company of the Tony Award-winning revival. Meanwhile, “Hello, Dolly!” marks the touring debut of Cassie Austin Taylor, a 2013 Libertyville High alum.
“It was a really beautiful, wonderful experience to be a part of the original revival,” said Liberto.
For the “Hello, Dolly!” tour, Liberto has taken on extra duties as the company's dance captain. He also understudies multiple roles, including the sheepish clerk Cornelius Hackl.
On Broadway, Liberto shared the stage with an impressive lineup of Tony Award-winning leading ladies including Bette Midler, Donna Murphy and Bernadette Peters. For the tour, it's Betty Buckley's turn to play the widow Dolly Gallagher Levi, an 1880s New York matchmaker who has designs on cantankerous Yonkers merchant Horace Vandergelder (Tony Award-nominee Lewis J. Stadlen).
“They're both so professional and they both have so many years of experience under their belts,” said Liberto. “Watching them work with each other and off each other has been a pleasure.”
Taylor agrees. “It's such a master class in acting, in vulnerability and vocals,” she said. “I hope to sound like Betty Buckley when I'm 71. It's insane - the vocal power that she has still to this day.”
Taylor is amazed that she booked the tour so soon after moving to New York following her 2017 graduation from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. When asked why she chose the Big Apple rather than Chicago to build up her career, Taylor said it largely had to do with her husband's New York job placement with the Teach For America program.
“What I'm the most excited for in coming back is that my teachers and my family and a lot of my friends will be able to see what I'm doing,” said Taylor, whose only previous touring experience was in the BYU Young Ambassadors show choir. “I'm also really excited to see my younger sister perform in Libertyville High's fall musical (of 'Pippin.')”
Liberto and Taylor didn't know each other when they were cast in “Hello, Dolly!” Yet both mentioned how Libertyville High teachers Jeffrey Brown and Suzanne Torrence used social media to make sure they knew about their shared Lake County roots.
“I just want to say how grateful I am to the whole creative team, but also how grateful I am to my teachers and my home of Libertyville,” Taylor said. “They really built me up confidence-wise, and they're all a reason why I'm doing this right now.”
“Hello, Dolly!”
<b>Location:</b> Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000 or broadway inchicago.com
<b>Showtimes:</b> 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday (also Oct. 28), 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (also Wednesday beginning Oct. 31). Runs from Tuesday, Oct. 23, to Nov. 17
<b>Tickets:</b> $24-$157