Dollypop said: "Pearl Bailey had Thelma Carpenter do the matinees when she played Dolly.
She may have had her do some performances, perhaps later in the run??? I saw Bailey twice, and I am sure that both were Saturday matinee performances.
I find myself surprised that Midler may do less than 8 performances. Hell, Carol Channing toured the country at 73 and did all 8. Also, I have never thought of Dolly as a huge role, in the sense that Mama Rose is huge or Evita or Fanny Brice or Mame or Agnes in I Do! I Do, etc. Dolly has some decent stretches of time where she is off-stage in both acts (I always felt they gave too much time to the Cornelius / Irene story, probably because I never cared for most of the songs they sang)...Midler did 90 straight minutes in Las Vegas where she had to sing a lot more than she will have to do in Dolly.
Years ago, Mary Martin and Robert Preston only did 6 performances...I don't remember if it was from the beginning of the run or not, but those were enormous roles...they were only off-stage when the other had their show-stopper number, ie.e., Flaming Agnes and Its a Well Known Fact. I could understand that...not sure re Dolly...it is just not that large a role.
