Get ready to taste Saturday's high life, because we've got an exclusive preview of Olney Theatre Center's upcoming production of Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart's Hello, Dolly! See titular leading lady Nova Y. Payton preview the show's iconic anthem "Before the Parade Passes By" in the video below.

The musical is coming to the Maryland theatre beginning November 6, with performances continuing through January 4, 2026.

Based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, Hello, Dolly! centers on Dolly Gallagher Levi, a turn-of-the-century New York matchmaker who gets involved in two love matches as part of an elaborate scheme to get herself paired with her love, Yonkers' famous half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder. "Before the Parade By" is arguably the Herman score's best-known tune, finishing the musical's first act with a rousing ode to living life with gusto.

The work premiered on Broadway in 1964 with Carol Channing in the title role, going on to become a long-running hit that welcomed a long string of replacement title stars including Pearl Bailey, Betty Grable, Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Phyllis Diller, and Ethel Merman. Revivals came to the Main Stem in 1975, 1978, 1996, and, most recently, a Tony-winning 2018 staging starring Bette Midler.

Joining Payton in the cast of Olney's production are Caitlin Brooke as Irene Molloy, Montel B. Butler as Rudolph, Alex De Bard as Minnie, Anna Maria C. Ferrari as Ermengarde, Ricky Devon Hall as Barnaby, Michael Perrie Jr. as Cornelius Hackl, Wood Van Meter as Ambrose, Moses Villarama as Horace, and Karen Vincent as Ernestina, along with Quadry Brown, Patrick Casimir, Eve Dillingham, Jailyn Wilkerson, Delaney Jackson, Mathew Millin, Robert Mintz, Nico Nazal, Eli Schulman, Taryn Smithson, Alyssa Enita Stanford, and Ava Wilson. Swings Emmy Lane and James B. Bernin round out the company.

Olney's production is being directed by Kevin S. McAllister, with choreography by Eamon Foley and music direction by Christopher Youstra. The staging features scenic design by Riw Rakkulchon, costume design by Paris Francesca and Julie Cray Leong, lighting design by Christina Watanabe, sound design by Matthew Rowe, and wig design by Rueben D. Echoles. Ben Walsh is production stage manager, with Katie Kilbane and Fior Tat serving as assistant stage managers.

Tickets are at OlneyTheatre.org.