Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:32pm
""why didn't this happen"
Because Bette is Jewish and Dolly is Irish."
...and of course by that logic Kelli O'Hara has no business playing Anna Leonowens.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:33pm
"Oh, so that was Irish Barbra was doing in the film. Thanks for clarifying."
No, and that's one of the problems with the movie. Barbra sang it like no one else could, but her acting was pure Fanny Brice shtick.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:35pm
"and of course by that logic Kelli O'Hara has no business playing Anna Leonowens."
Kelli O'Hara had no business playing Anna Leonowens because she's boring. At least she could get away with doing a paint-by-numbers Anna and few would be the wiser.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:36pm
It's a shame Herman won't let Patti and Jack O'Brien do a brand new production. I don't blame them for having no interest in recreating the original.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:38pm
Patti is past her expiration date. Why not have an age appropriate actress for once? How about an actress who is middle to late 40s? Where we can still believe that she can have a new life without her husband who has died.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:41pm
Patti would still shine like gold in Hello Dolly. Barbra wasn't age appropriate and she still knocked it out of the park. Hell, Carol wasn't age appropriate during the last few revivals. Patti's still got the goods and her voice is still in excellent shape.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:42pm
mid40s? Hmm, Emily Skinner? She has the voice and attitude and humor....
Posted: 6/23/15 at 1:54pm
Barbra wasn't age appropriate and she still knocked it out of the park. Hell, Carol wasn't age appropriate during the last few revivals.
Which is the whole point. It would be nice to see an age appropriate Dolly. When she sings "Before The Parade Passes By" we need to think there's still hope that she can have a life, not that she's headed to the nearest Senior Center.
I also think Patti LuPone has no nuance. She's always "big".
I could see Emily Skinner doing it. She mugs sometimes, but a good director could tone that down.
Who's today's version of Betty White? Maybe someone like that.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 2:04pm
I loved Karen Ziemba as Dolly last year in the Drury Lane production in Chicago. She was funny, warm, charming and sang the HELL out of that score.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 2:16pm
Beth Leavel did it at The Muny. I heard great things. Andrea Martin also did the show somewhere. Both good choices for Dolly. I think Patti and Kristin would be the best though. Patti has great comic timing and would sing the score to pieces. Kristin would be hilarious and amazing!!
Posted: 6/23/15 at 2:17pm
For some reason I don't see pocket-sized Kristin Chenoweth as "Dolly Levi"...I also don't see her as "Dolly Parton"...or for what it's worth "Dolly Madison.
Updated On: 6/23/15 at 02:17 PM
Posted: 6/23/15 at 2:21pm
I think she would be amazing!!!! But i rather see Patti
Posted: 6/23/15 at 2:27pm
"I think she would be amazing!!!! But i rather see Patti"
I'd rather not as she is way too *ahem* mature for this particular role.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 6:33pm
After seeing Bernadette Peters performing with the Boston Pops last month, I feel she'd be an excellent Dolly. She told me she'd like to do the role, too!
Posted: 6/23/15 at 9:48pm
There will never be a major revival of Hello Dolly that does not have a major star on opening night. Forget about Emily Skinner, Beth Leavel, Karen Ziemba or anyone similar. I do think it'd be great to have it done by someone in her 40s (Channing was 42 on opening night).
What if Amy Adams decided to take a year away from films? Why not Kristen Chenoweth...I think she'd be great. I'd love to see Jennifer Lopez n it...she has the right warmth.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 9:58pm
I, for one, would love to see the already rumored Chenoweth revival. I have a new respect for her after her 20th Century performance, having only seen her in Promises, Promises before, and would love to see her tackle this role!
Posted: 6/23/15 at 10:00pm
Patti LuPone, from what I've seen of her, has no comic timing. I still think that people who think Barbra was good in the role are on crack, but that's neither here nor there. Carol Channing was so good in the role that even in mere recordings of the show you can feel her presence. She also had some of the best comic timing I've ever seen, if not the best.
I would like to see Emily Skinner do the role, as she had excellent comic skills in A Little Night Music.
And why do we need a star? The show's best component is its book, which is downright hysterical thanks to Thornton Wilder (and in part Michael Stewart). This means that the show stands on its own. The score is not a great one, but it's so delightful and fun that who really cares. I think people would come to see it even without a major hollywood star.
And why would they want to change the choreography or staging? It's probably the most perfect I've ever seen. Does anybody really want to mess with Put On Your Sunday Clothes or the title song?
Posted: 6/23/15 at 11:28pm
No to Kristin Chenoweth! Nobody wants to hear Dolly played with a little girl's voice. No to Bernadette Peters who would do a little girl's voice and a lisp. We got the lisping Carol Channing. Let's just have a normal Dolly.
Patricia Heaton as Dolly. We'll accept no less.
Posted: 6/23/15 at 11:49pm
I had little interest in seeing Chenoweth as Dolly Levi. After seeing what she accomplished with Lily Garland, there's no one else I'd raher see.
LuPone would be good. Bernadette Peters, who did such great work in Herman's MACK & MABEL, would be my preferred choice if they go with an older actress.
Posted: 6/24/15 at 4:40am
Behindthescenes2, are you f'real?
Did you also have problems with Bette in The Rose because Mary Rose FOSTER was clearly a small town Southern Shikse?
Updated On: 6/24/15 at 04:40 AM
Posted: 6/24/15 at 9:00am
Amy Adams as Dolly? I can't for the life of me imagine that.
Posted: 6/24/15 at 9:15am
Patti LuPone, from what I've seen of her, has no comic timing
Arent you like 16? Perhaps you haven't seen enough of her. Lupone certainly has comic timing in spades. When she was on Frasier she was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding actress in a comedy series. She was hysterical on 30 rock also. She also really played up the comedic moments in Sweeney and Gypsy. She had the audience laughing out of her hand in Gypsy. Not to mention her comedic tony nominated performance from Women on the verge. But if you really want to see her do comedy, check her out in the tv show:Life goes on.
Maybe saying Lupone doesn't have comic timing is the cool thing to say these days because she has been given such a reputation by the industry, but if you ever meet her or watch her in interviews, you'll find that she is actually a very funny lady.
And why would they want to change the choreography or staging?
Patti doesn't do museum pieces.
Updated On: 6/24/15 at 09:15 AM
Posted: 6/24/15 at 9:22am
"Patti is past her expiration date. Why not have an age appropriate actress for once? How about an actress who is middle to late 40s? Where we can still believe that she can have a new life without her husband who has died."
Ruth Gordon , who originated Dolly in Thorton Wilder's "The Matchmaker" , was 59 when she played the part. Are you saying the original play was not cast appropriately? Shirley Booth, who did the movie version, was 60. Patti Lupone is 66 and looks younger than both of them at that point in their lives.
Updated On: 6/24/15 at 09:22 AM
Posted: 6/24/15 at 9:30am
No theater will fill 8 times a week, at $167 per ducat, to see Karen Ziemba or Emily Skinner as Dolly. A revival needs event status casting, and even Chenoweth wouldn't qualify (fyi, "...20th Century" has been on the TKTS board every time I've been near it in the past 2 1/2 months). Ebersole, Peters and Lupone, unlikely to be perceived as event casting. I wasn't a fan of the Zeta Jones Desiree in NIGHT MUSIC, but that's the kind of thinking required. A singing movie star whose appearance on B'way alone sells tickets.
Posted: 6/24/15 at 10:04am
I wasn't a fan of the Zeta Jones Desiree in NIGHT MUSIC, but that's the kind of thinking required. A singing movie star whose appearance on B'way alone sells tickets.
If CZJ returns to Broadway, I'd prefer that it be in Mame. She's much more suited for Mame than Dolly.
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