More than anything else, "Hello, Dolly!" is a great big juicy helping of Americana.

Unlike "The Music Man," which focuses on small town Middle America, "Dolly" visits both a small New York town, Yonkers, and the Big Apple to tell its charming tale of Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi (Terry Darcy D'Emidio).

Dolly, matchmaker and meddler, is a woman who has her eyes on the prize even before the prize, Yonkers merchant Horace Vandergelder, knows he's being scrutinized. She manages to look for love in all the right places, for herself and those she is helping, including Vandergelder's niece, Ermengarde (Jessica Knudsen) and Horace's helpers in his hay and feed store, Cornelius Hackl (William Giammona) and Barnaby Tucker (Andrew Willis-Woodward).

The show, which opened over the weekend, is a musical retelling of Thornton Wilder's "The Matchmaker," and it gets a charming revival from the Diablo Theatre Company (formerly Diablo Light Opera Company) as a perfect early-summer musical treat. Directed by Dennis Lickteig with the seemingly humble ambition of putting smiles on audience faces, the show succeeds beautifully.

The success is due primarily to D'Emidio's triumphant personification of Dolly. She was able to make the character her own despite the obvious fingerprints of Carol Channing. But where Channing zigged, D'Emidio zags, putting the Dolly character into a different light. She still meddles and makes matches, but her Dolly is somewhat softer, which makes you see how Vandergelder, or anyone else Dolly has her eye on, could fall for her.

The show also has a rich supporting cast including a wonderfully grumpy and growling Curt Denham as Horace, and Giammona and Willis-Woodward as the hapless Horace helpers.

The two young men create great comic relief as they head into New York City for an adventure, which includes meeting a couple of gals, Irene Molloy (Rena Wilson), owner of a hat shop, and her assistant, the giggling Minnie Fay (Meghan Ihle). The four have terrific stage presence and great chemistry. Wilson has a knockout voice and makes the tune "Ribbons Down My Back" one of the best moments of the show.

She and Giammona dance well together, as do Willis-Woodward and Ihle.

Dolly gets the big tunes from "Hello, Dolly," the music for the show's big production number, "It Takes a Woman," her duet with Horace, and the funny "So Long Dearie."

Although the chorus is callow in spots, the singing and dancing in the production numbers are well done with steps created by Lawrence Pech. And once again Cheryl Yee Glass and her orchestra provide an excellent interpretation of the score.

The set is an unusual mix of drops and wheeled pieces which combine to create an impressive series of pieces ranging from the feed store to the ritzy New York restaurant where Dolly makes her grand entrance.