A New York businessman in the market for a wife
The play had origins in a 1835 one-act farce "A Day Well Spent", written by the English dramatist John Oxenford and then extended in 1842 by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy. Wilder adapted Nestroy's 1842 version. Wilder's play in turn was revised in 1954 and retitled "The Matchmaker", which then became the basis for Jerry Herman's 1964 musical hit "Hello, Dolly!".