Age: 45
female
RACHEL CHAVKIN is a director, writer and dramaturg, as well as the founding Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based company the TEAM (theteamplays.org) whose work has been seen all over London and the U.K. including the National Theatre, the Royal Court, Old Vic, and multiple collaborations with the National Theatre of Scotland and the Battersea Arts Centre. Selected freelance work includes Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (Ars Nova, A.R.T., Broadway), Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown (New York Theatre Workshop, Edmonton Citadel, London’s National Theatre, upcoming: Broadway), Arthur Miller’s The American Clock (Old Vic), Matt Gould and Carson Kreitzer’s Lempicka (Williamstown), Caryl Churchill’s Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (New York Theatre Workshop), Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (Old Globe, Lincoln Center), Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova, Off-Broadway, national tour), Sarah Gancher’s I’ll Get You Back Again (Round House), and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac including The Lily’s Revenge, Act 2 (HERE); and with Chris Thorpe, including Confirmation and Status. Chavkin is a recipient of a Tony nomination for Best Direction, three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, multiple Lortel nominations, two Doris Duke Impact Award nominations, and the 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity along with Dave Malloy.
In 1890, all of New York City is excited because widowed and brassy Dolly Levi is in town ("Call On Dolly"). Dolly makes a living through matchmaking and numerous sidelines ("Just Leave Everything to Me"). She is currently seeking a wife for grumpy Horace Vandergelder , the well-known "half-a-millionaire", but it becomes clear that Dolly intends to marry Horace herself. Dolly travels to Yonkers, New York to visit Horace. Ambrose Kemper, a young artist, wants to marry Horace's weepy niece, Ermengarde, but Horace opposes this because Ambrose's vocation does not guarantee a steady living. Horace, who is the owner of Vandergelder's Hay and Feed, explains to his two clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker (Danny Lockin), that he is going to get married because "It Takes a Woman" to cheerfully do all the household chores. He plans to travel to New York City to propose to Irene Molloy, who owns a hat shop there. Dolly arrives in Yonkers and sends Horace ahead to the city. Before leaving, he tells Cornelius and Barnaby to mind the store.
