Synopsis:

The plot of Hello, Dolly! originated in the 1835 English play A Day Well Spent by John Oxenford, which Johann Nestroy adapted into the farce Einen Jux will er sich machen (He Will Go on a Spree or He'll Have Himself a Good Time). Thornton Wilder adapted Nestroy's play into his 1938 farcical play The Merchant of Yonkers.
That play was a flop, so he revised it and retitled it as The Matchmaker in 1955, expanding the role of Dolly (played by Ruth Gordon). The Matchmaker became a hit and was much revived and made into a 1958 film starring Shirley Booth. However, the 1891 musical A Trip to Chinatown also features a meddlesome widow who strives to bring romance to several couples and to herself in a big city restaurant.