photo by: Lily O'Shea Becker

Kelli Szrot, pictured at a dress rehearsal on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, stars as Dolly Levi in Theatre Lawrence's production of "Hello, Dolly!"

Anyone who saw Kelli Szrot bring down the house in Theatre Lawrence’s 2019 production of “Mamma Mia” will not be surprised that the Lawrence singer has been cast in the theater’s big season finale: “Hello, Dolly!” — the blockbuster 1964 musical with a lead role made famous by Carol Channing and then doubly famous by Barbra Streisand.

“She’s got an outstanding voice,” says director and choreographer Chris McCoy of Szrot, “which was the first thing that attracted me to cast her as Dolly — and also just her sense of comedy and playfulness that really bring the role to life.”

The Jerry Herman musical, based on Thornton Wilder’s 1954 farce “The Matchmaker,” features the character Dolly Levi, a brassy, meddlesome widow who has taken up matchmaking in 1890s New York. The show chronicles her comical exploits trying to connect various individuals to each other and, opportunistically, herself to “half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder (played in Theatre Lawrence’s production by Andrew Ramaley) — all against a score of “hummable, great tunes,” as McCoy describes the music.

“That was one of the things that we really enjoyed when we revisited the show is that you forget how almost every number is a showstopper,” says McCoy, a University of Kansas graduate who now is an associate professor of theater at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.

photo by: Lily O’Shea Becker

Spencer Greenwood, from left, Sonja Holmgren, Robbie Fowler and Julia Ruddy are pictured in a dress rehearsal Wednesday, June 8, 2022, for Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Hello, Dolly!”

Szrot, a longtime Lawrence resident who grew up in New Jersey loving Broadway musicals and the flamboyant Channing, embraces the chance to play Dolly, with whom she shares a certain irrepressibility.

“I cannot remember a time when I didn’t sing,” she says. “I remember very frequently being told to be quiet because I sang everything everywhere all the time, and I think it drove my mom nuts, to be honest, and it got me in trouble in school too because I was constantly singing.”

The irritated reactions had happily little effect, however. Szrot, who now works as a nutrition coach and as a worship leader at Relevate Church, went on to channel her innate exuberance into a pair of academic credentials: an undergraduate degree in voice performance from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in opera performance from KU.

But, despite her devotion to music, and because of various life events, she was absent from the stage for 15 years before she performed in “Mamma Mia” three years ago.

“It was such a phenomenal experience,” she says of the 1999 romantic comedy featuring hit songs by ABBA, “like catching lightning in a bottle,” as one of her friends described it. “I think that was part of what drew me to this.”

photo by: Lily O’Shea Becker

Kelli Szrot, pictured at a dress rehearsal on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, stars as Dolly Levi in Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Hello, Dolly!”

Beyond the singing, Szrot and McCoy both express a fondness for “Hello, Dolly!” because, unlike many Broadway shows from 60 years ago, it has held up well, the recent Broadway revival starring Bette Midler being a “testament to that,” McCoy says.

“I feel like the more aware we are about identity politics, so many of those classic musicals feel outdated,” he says, but “Dolly” still “lands its jokes” and “still entertains audiences.”

Szrot agrees.

“There are so many nuances in the show. There’s so much just pure humor that doesn’t do anything to degrade others. It’s just a good, delightful, set your problems outside the door” entertainment, she says. “And the costumes,” she’s eager to note, “are just beautiful.”

Because the show is set in Edith Wharton-era New York, the period costumes, by Jane Pennington, play an especially eye-catching role; as McCoy describes it, the wardrobe is “a beautiful palette of vibrant, amazing colors with all of those silhouettes from the era.”

“Hello, Dolly!” is scheduled to open Friday at Theatre Lawrence, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive, and will have multiple performances through June 26. For information about tickets, call 785-843-SHOW (7469) or go online at theatrelawrence.com.

photo by: Lily O’Shea Becker

Secily Rees, pictured in a dress rehearsal Wednesday, June 8, 2022, plays Ernestina in Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Hello, Dolly!”

photo by: Lily O’Shea Becker

Robbie Fowler and Kelli Szrot, pictured Wednesday, June 8, 2022, rehearse a scene in Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Hello, Dolly!”

photo by: Lily O’Shea Becker

Kelli Szrot, pictured at a dress rehearsal on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, stars as Dolly Levi in Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Hello, Dolly!”