An open letter to HELLO, DOLLY!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 4:35pm

Dear Friend

I'm really glad you're back in town and looking so great. Can you believe we've known each other for 53 years? There isn't a day that goes by without me thinking of you and every time I do I smile. When we first met I was still in high school. Now I've retired from teaching but am still working with kids --only now I'm working with special needs kids and enjoying it. How many children have I taken to meet you down through the yearts? They alwayscome away with enormous grins on their face and love in their hearts.

It seems like so many younger people are meeting you on this visit. It's their first introduction to you and now the are learning how special you are. They're getting that " Dolly Glow" within them and I hope it never leaves. You are the finest example of how the arts can lift our spirits and how important the performing arts are in our everyday lives.

I'll be back to see you real soon, my friend. I never tire of your company and am so very glad we're still around for each other. Please promise you'll never go away again.

Devotedly yours,

Dollypop

 

Updated On: 3/18/17 at 04:35 PM

[smidge]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 7:25pm

And this is what this board should be all about. Hope you get to see it many more times Dollypop. Oh, how will I be able to wait until May!?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 7:32pm

Thank you for this. Hoping to catch a SRO ticket sometime in the near future.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 7:37pm

I love this letter. I've known about the show for a long time and was somewhat familiar with the score, but this will be my first time seeing a production of DOLLY in any capacity... and on Broadway with Bette Midler at that. (I'm barely outside the millennial age, but I know who Bette is and her extensive career... haha.) Thrilled I was able to find a ticket and that I'll get to see the production that has received such a glowing response from longtime fans and "new Dollypops"!

[DAME]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 7:37pm

Thank you for this.

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 8:00pm

A beautiful tribute ... and a reminder of how enriching the arts can be.

Flying in from California in June and attending Wednesday evening 6/21 with a NYC friend who has never seen Miss M. in a live performance.  Bette and "Dolly" will be a double-whammy for her.

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 8:11pm

[thattreegurl]

Posted: 3/18/17 at 9:14pm

This letter is the kind of thing that reminds me, and I'm sure many others, why we fall in love with this art form and all its delights. Thank you so much for sharing.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 12:30pm

Not to sound like an old grouch, but with ticket prices being what they are these days, I'll be resorting to standing room for many of my future visits to my friend. I'm not complaining, though. With support hose and my orthopedic shoes, I'll be fine.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 12:30pm

Updated On: 3/19/17 at 12:30 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 12:44pm

This is truly beautiful. I caught the show last night, and it was my first introduction to Hello, Dolly! outside of the cast albums. I definitely have that "Dolly Glow", and will for days to come.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 12:47pm

Bwtween this and other Dolly threads, I'm even MORE glad that I directed this a few years ago with my HS kids.  

Sad when these classics aren't getting their due.

[BeNice]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 1:36pm

Thank you so much for this.

 

I re-joined these boards under the name BeNice a few years ago because I was so disheartened that these boards had become less about our mutual love of theatre and more about calling out people for their grammatical errors and opinions that differ from their own.

At some point in all our lives we were struck by cupid's arrow that made us fall madly in love with the theatre and this should be a sanctuary where we can gather for the right reasons instead of all the wrong.

Thank you Dollypop.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 2:12pm

Very sweet, indeed. I had never even listened completely through of a recording of Hello, Dolly! in its entirety and had little interest in the musical until Bette became involved with this production.  I feel so fortunate to have seen it as the production is utterly sumptuous and georgeous. It is wonderful to have such a well produced production of vintage Broadway back on the great white way!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 2:20pm

 

That's lovely, DP. Just lovely.

 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 4:32pm

Dollypop, I called a friend in Chicago and read her your letter. She loved it. Thanks so much for posting.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 4:46pm

[Jimmyb1969]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 7:07pm

We saw it for a second time already on Saturday and it's just getting better and better. By the time this opens look out! Home run!

Who is going to replace Bette in a year? Madonna?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 7:19pm

Loretta Swit 

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 7:21pm

WHOOPI !!

Updated On: 3/19/17 at 07:21 PM

[ryankon]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 8:34pm

Truly love this post, Dolli Pop.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 8:51pm

A beautiful message. I was most looking forward to Dear Evan Hansen on my trip next month, but now I find myself even more counting down to Dolly on April 21. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 9:43pm

Hello, Dolly! is the first day of spring every day of the year.

I returned to see the revival a second time, and was thoroughly delighted, enchanted, and moved. Bette Midler radiates humor, warmth, and knowing understanding of our human follies.

I never to cease to amaze at the genius of Gower Champion's overall conception of this show. The  "Dancing" number is so magical, so poetic, so buoyant: every time I see it I feel as if my heart is about to burst.

And "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" is a non-stop express to musical-comedy heaven.

I think the key to the entire piece is Dolly's arranging for all the principals of the show to stay together at the end. Wouldn't it be wonderful if in real life all those we love and care for could stay together forever? That's the blissful dream that Jerry Herman, Michael Stewart, Gower Champion, and  that wonderful woman Dolly Levi provide for us in Hello, Dolly!. For that, and for everything else in this great show, we are forever in their debt.

 

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/19/17 at 10:10pm

After Eight said: "Hello, Dolly! is the first day of spring every day of the year.

I returned to see the revival a second time, and was thoroughly delighted, enchanted, and moved. Bette Midler radiates humor, warmth, and knowing understanding of our human follies.

I never to cease to amaze at the genius of Gower Champion's overall conception of this show. The  "Dancing" number is so magical, so poetic, so buoyant: every time I see it I feel as if my heart is about to burst.

And "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" is a non-stop express to musical-comedy heaven.

I think the key to the entire piece is Dolly's arranging for all the principals of the show to stay together at the end. Wouldn't it be wonderful if in real life all those we love and care for could stay together forever? That's the blissful dream that Jerry Herman, Michael Stewart, Gower Champion, and  that wonderful woman Dolly Levi provide for us in Hello, Dolly!. For that, and for everything else in this great show, we are forever in their debt.
***********************************************


 I fully agree!


 

 

"