Bette Midler Confirms Broadway Return in HELLO DOLLY- Page 27

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 11:36am

FYI - on telecharge you're now able to choose your own seats! There are TONS left for all of the dates I searched and they definitely withheld most of the mezz/balcony when they first went on sale...

Updated On: 9/24/16 at 11:36 AM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/24/16 at 6:25pm

Ordered my first batch of tickets the day they went on sale and still haven't received them. Should I be worried?

[gypsy101]

Posted: 9/25/16 at 2:43am

Stage Door Sally said: "I'm particularly concerned about the presidential election potentially changing the climate of the country..."

Whoever the new president will be I doubt they'll have the power to change the weather

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/25/16 at 9:36pm

A friend checked earlier via telephone with TeleCharge and all that was available for the first preview performance (Wednesday March 15, 2017 at 8pm) are/were 4 tickets in the Premium Seating section.  The entire performance is literally sold-out!  This is getting even more exciting!  

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/27/16 at 4:22pm

Has anyone received their tickets by mail yet?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/27/16 at 4:30pm

Physical tickets won't be shipping for several months.  Only the e-tickets have been issued and sent.  

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/27/16 at 6:18pm

Thanks. 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/3/16 at 11:03am

Look what I've found: Yvonne De Carlo singing one of the songs from Hello Dolly during a concert in the 80's. I think it's the closest glimpse of what she did in the role.

 

 

Updated On: 10/3/16 at 11:03 AM

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/5/16 at 5:03pm

Sorry for the double post but I have to ask this: Since this might be the very first revival that's not a big recreation of the 1964 production like the past revivals were, what exactly does Jerry Zaks and Warren Carlyle (a choreographer that I'm becoming less hard towards due to his splendid work on Encores! On Your Toes, After Midnight, and She Loves Me) and the entire crew have in mind for it? It seems the closest answer we got was the "create a tribute to Gower Champion's legendary staging" but I have a feeling that there's going to be more to it than that.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/5/16 at 8:18pm

That's a good question, because Herman apparently put a halt to the LuPone production with  brand new direction and staging by Jack O'brien.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/5/16 at 9:38pm

ljay889 said: "That's a good question, because Herman apparently put a halt to the LuPone production with  brand new direction and staging by Jack O'brien."

 

Really now? I wonder why he green-lit this revival and not the other one? The Kennedy Center production of Mame from 2006 and the La Cage Broadway revivals had drastically different direction and choreography (Mame's choreography was done by Warren Carlyle ironically) and Jerry seemed to be fine with those three.

Updated On: 10/5/16 at 09:38 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/5/16 at 9:57pm

Jerry has told me on several occasions that he strongly feels much of the show's success is due to Gower's brilliant staging.

I agree.

 

Updated On: 10/8/16 at 09:57 PM

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:08am

Dollypop said: "Jerry has told me on several occasions that he strongly feels much of the show's success is due to Tower's brilliant staging.

I agree."

 

I think Gower Champion's direction and choreography was a big piece of the puzzle to the show's success. I also think it was Carol Channing's performance, the score, book, production etc that were also the reasons for it's smash run in 1964; I mean, it didn't win it's 10 Tony Awards for nothing.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:11am

Herman has struck me as very overprotective of his shows when it comes to New York revivals.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:30am

He's basically the total opposite of Sondheim, lol!

[AC126748]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:37am

Did Herman ever comment publicly about the 2010 La Cage revival? It seems like he would have hated it. (Laurents called it homophobic)

[Kad]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:43am

ljay889 said: "He's basically the total opposite of Sondheim, lol!"

It's true.

Sondheim's total willingness to let people futz with his work- even the ones that flopped miserably initially- and stage or adapt it in different ways is a big part of how he's secured his legacy. It continuously exposes people to his body of work and demonstrates how well it holds up.

 

I wish Herman were less protective. His work deserves to be revisited over and over, too. Updated On: 10/6/16 at 10:43 AM

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:54am

Maybe they can do a new staging for the Charles Strouse and Bob Merrill numbers.  

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:41am

I agree Kad, even the ones that failed also deserve to be revisited; Dear World especially.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 12:03pm

That's exactly it. He's overprotective of NY revivals. Basically, the only revival of his works have been Champion-staging Hello, Dolly! and the Jerry Zak's La Cage which apparently was very close to the original except the choreography. To me, he's protective of his memories and truly of his legacy. He's at the age where he knows any production could be the last of his lifetime so he's keeping a tight hold on the works and doesn't want anything to flop. Now we all know a faithful recreation can flop just as easily as a bold, new production but, to him he at least will know the show didn't flop because of the score or staging since "it's worked before." 

The 2010 revival of La Cage was already a critical hit in London he wasn't taking as huge of a risk if they did that staging here first.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 12:11pm

And, honestly, the 2010 La Cage was hardly a major rethinking of the show. It was just... smaller and less slick. It wasn't close to, say, a John Doyle "the cast is just the principal characters and they all play instruments and the set is chairs" production.

Updated On: 10/6/16 at 12:11 PM

[StageDoor3]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 1:01pm

Not to pull the "Dolly" thread off topic but in answer to Music Master - I saw the concert staging of "Dear World" in Los Angeles last weekend directed by David Lee with Tyne Daly and a terrific 20+ piece orchestra.  They performed the David Thompson revised version.  The concert was lovely; Tyne Daly was absolutely wonderful; and the rest of the cast excellent.  I love the score, but this was my first exposure to the book.  To put it one way - the book is "of another time".  The story and approach which may have worked in the original play (let alone the original musical) doesn't work well so many decades later.   I, too, would love to see "Dear World" revived.  As good as some of our new composers are, they don't write music like this anymore.  There is potential there.  But in my opinion, the show would be a very tough sell as a revival without a star and major and "almost unrecognizable from the original" reworking of the book.  

Updated On: 10/6/16 at 01:01 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 1:14pm

I seem to recall it being discussed at some point in the years I've been on this board, but does Herman have a particular aversion to Encores?

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 1:28pm

Thank you StageDoor3 for that answer, it would be difficult for Dear World to be back on Broadway without a star and a major reworking of the book (which I theorize is why the show failed in 1969). I think that Jerry Zaks and Warren Carlyle might make a wonderful revival of Hello, Dolly that can both be the "Gower Champion tribute" and something new to it's direction and choreography at the same time.

Carlyle might be a perfect fit here just like he was for Finian's Rainbow, After Midnight and She Loves Me, but I sure hope his work on Hello, Dolly doesn't fall flat like his work on Follies did. The less said about his Kennedy Center version of "Lucy and Jessie" the better.

[AC126748]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 1:32pm

Kad said: "I seem to recall it being discussed at some point in the years I've been on this board, but does Herman have a particular aversion to Encores?

 

"

There has been on and off discussion for years that Herman wouldn't allow Encores the rights to certain shows (specifically, DEAR WORLD and MACK AND MABEL) because he felt it would hurt their chances of receiving future full-scale productions.