Bette officially leaving Dolly on January 14th- Page 3

[Buffalo Bill]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 10:37am

Every once in awhile a performer "steals the show." Historically it's usually not been the leading player. It's usually some unsung hero who's been slogging away, unnoticed for years, who suddenly has a breakthrough moment on stage, and their careers and lives are forever changed. Tuesday August 1st, however, was different. On that night, Donna Murphy stole "Hello Dolly" away from Carol, Pearl, Barbra, and Bette (among many others) and kept stealing, singing, dancing, meddling, clowning and mugging right at us from the stage with sheer delight. Get a cheap seat now, sit back and relax, Donna's got this one covered. So Long Dearie, Before the Parade passes by, Put on Your Sunday Clothes and Just Leave Everything to Me! Uh, Dolly. Uh, Donna!

Updated On: 8/3/17 at 10:37 AM

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 10:39am

Can't one only steal the show from the other people onstage?!

[DAME]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 11:42am

The show was on fire yesterday.  Entrance applause for everyone.  Bette sounded AMAZING!  One nice new thing for me;  the last bow when she used to step forward and take the bow on her own and then step back and grab David's arm as the curtain falls... Yesterday she stepped forward with David and they both bowed and embraced and then stepped back.  She also took even more time in the passarelle shaking people's hands before that.  There was so much love in that theater.

Updated On: 8/3/17 at 11:42 AM

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 11:53am

^^ aww that sounds really sweet. There was only applause for Donna and I think David as well the night I went. Jennifer got some when she opened her mouth, and during the curtain call Donna let Nathan Madden get the final bow. I love when audiences are interactive, it makes the show more inviting. 

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 11:54am

Updated On: 8/3/17 at 11:54 AM

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 11:56am

* Sorry for the double post 

[DAME]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 2:36pm

Something else that was new for me yesterday was the audience singing along during the Dolly portion of the overture.  It was fab.

[Zamedy154]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 3:16pm

So Gavin was out again last night?? I'm confused.

And thanks for your post DAME! We just got to NYC. I'm counting the hours until Saturday evening. Glad to see you also say Bette sounded AMAZING. I said the same thing two weeks ago. She sounded even better than she did in previews. She is an EVENT!

 

[DAME]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 3:45pm

Not one understudy.

[Flowerlovestage5]

Posted: 8/3/17 at 10:22pm

According to a poster on All That Chat, it was reported on pg. 19 of the Daily News today, that Donna will be taking over permanently and reps did not comment. 

There is no link as apparently it was only in print. Did anyone read it? 

[10086sunset]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 1:14am

Flowerlovestage5 said: "According to a poster on All That Chat, it was reported on pg. 19 of the Daily News today, that Donna will be taking over permanently and reps did not comment. 

There is no link as apparently it was only in print. Did anyone read it? "

 

I have trouble believing this when Donna's performances are readily available on TDF.

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 6:40am

I hear that they actually have scheduled Dollys for the entire year and they plan on announcing them all at once. 

But that may just be my friend pulling my leg. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 7:59am

Flowerlovestage5 said: "There is no link as apparently it was only in print. Did anyone read it?"

Yeah, sites are really fussy about which print stories they put on the web...

[Zamedy154]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 8:04am

Nevermind! 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 8:51am

It hasn't.

www.keepvid.com.

Just sayin'.

[Flowerlovestage5]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 10:28am

Ok, as of this morning, the Daily News printed on pg. 23, a correction to yesterday's blurb -- stating that no replacement has been found. 

Granted, that's most likely not true either, but way to screw that up. 

 

[David10086]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 12:59pm

It would be interesting to see how long Murphy could sustain the box-office if she took over for Midler in January - unless it would be a 'limited 8 week engagement' and they brought in a big replacement for the Spring (Midler returns)? 

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 7:12pm

Looks like the YouTube link is down. If anybody could hit me up with another resource, that'd be appreciated ...

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/13/17 at 12:50pm

So Thursday was the day I took my 94 y/o grandmother to the show. It was a 7p show, and we didn't tell her until she finished her lunch at 1. And she was NOT having it, trying to get me to take my mother instead, and saying she was too old to be doing this, etc., etc., but as she is saying this, she is still agreeing with my mother about what to wear, etc., so there is still some movement happening. We load the wheelchair in the car, and off we go! For the first 45 minutes or so, she was still going on about it, until we entered New Jersey, as I guess she figured she already left Pennsylvania, and we were in a car headed into New York... and she just shifted to taking in the scenery.

When we saw the skyline in the distance, she said she never thought she would ever see this again. Once in town, we grabbed a quick dinner at Le Pain on Bryant Park (since she doesn't have a huge appetite anymore, and they have good portions for the price for her, and vegan stuff for me), and then I pushed her over to the show, and got her an assisted listening device.

The whole day, she couldn't stop saying "I never thought I would ever do this again..." and she really enjoyed the show, since she loves both the show and Bette. And I could tell she was hearing things OK, since she was laughing at all the jokes (as she will often not mention if she can't quite hear things, so I wanted to make sure). And she even sang the first "Hello Dolly!" (probably not even knowing it) when Bette was coming down the stairs...

And now, she says... she would consider going to another show in the future?!? Although, she did admit, we would still have to surprise her on the day. 

And, for her breakfast the next morning, I brought her her coffee in her new Hello Dolly mug, which I bought and quickly stowed in my backpack without her noticing.

Everything worked out perfectly!

[DAME]

Posted: 8/13/17 at 1:01pm

haterobics said: "So Thursday was the day I took my 94 y/o grandmother to the show. It was a 7p show, and we didn't tell her until she finished her lunch at 1. And she was NOT having it, trying to get me to take my mother instead, and saying she was too old to be doing this, etc., etc., but as she is saying this, she is still agreeing with my mother about what to wear, etc., so there is still some movement happening. We load the wheelchair in the car, and off we go! For the first 45 minutes or so, she was still going on about it, until we entered New Jersey, as I guess she figured she already left Pennsylvania, and we were in a car headed into New York... and she just shifted to taking in the scenery.

When we saw the skyline in the distance, she said she never thought she would ever see this again. Once in town, we grabbed a quick dinner at Le Pain on Bryant Park (since she doesn't have a huge appetite anymore, and they have good portions for the price for her, and vegan stuff for me), and then I pushed her over to the show, and got her an assisted listening device.

The whole day, she couldn't stop saying "I never thought I would ever do this again..." and she really enjoyed the show, since she loves both the show and Bette. And I could tell she was hearing things OK, since she was laughing at all the jokes (as she will often not mention if she can't quite hear things, so I wanted to make sure). And she even sang the first "Hello Dolly!" (probably not even knowing it) when Bette was coming down the stairs...

And now, she says... she would consider going to another show in the future?!? Although, she did admit, we would still have to surprise her on the day. 

And, for her breakfast the next morning, I brought her her coffee in her new Hello Dolly mug, which I bought and quickly stowed in my backpack without her noticing.

Everything worked out perfectly!

 

"

Thrilled!  That is so great!  What a beautiful thing you did.  You both will never forget it.  

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 8/13/17 at 1:02pm

haterobics said: "So Thursday was the day I took my 94 y/o grandmother to the show. It was a 7p show, and we didn't tell her until she finished her lunch at 1. And she was NOT having it, trying to get me to take my mother instead, and saying she was too old to be doing this, etc., etc., but as she is saying this, she is still agreeing with my mother about what to wear, etc., so there is still some movement happening. We load the wheelchair in the car, and off we go! For the first 45 minutes or so, she was still going on about it, until we entered New Jersey, as I guess she figured she already left Pennsylvania, and we were in a car headed into New York... and she just shifted to taking in the scenery.

When we saw the skyline in the distance, she said she never thought she would ever see this again. Once in town, we grabbed a quick dinner at Le Pain on Bryant Park (since she doesn't have a huge appetite anymore, and they have good portions for the price for her, and vegan stuff for me), and then I pushed her over to the show, and got her an assisted listening device.

The whole day, she couldn't stop saying "I never thought I would ever do this again..." and she really enjoyed the show, since she loves both the show and Bette. And I could tell she was hearing things OK, since she was laughing at all the jokes (as she will often not mention if she can't quite hear things, so I wanted to make sure). And she even sang the first "Hello Dolly!" (probably not even knowing it) when Bette was coming down the stairs...

And now, she says... she would consider going to another show in the future?!? Although, she did admit, we would still have to surprise her on the day. 

And, for her breakfast the next morning, I brought her her coffee in her new Hello Dolly mug, which I bought and quickly stowed in my backpack without her noticing.

Everything worked out perfectly!

 

That's really cute. It's great that your grandma got to experience this show!

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 8/13/17 at 1:22pm

I'm typing this thru my tears. This moved me greatly. I'm so glad you were able to do this for her and with her. You will both cherish this experience the rest of your lives. Before my dad died and my mom's dementia progressed, we saw many touring Broadway shows in Tulsa. I cherish all those memories. But this really takes the cake! Bravo! 

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 8/13/17 at 1:38pm

I'm so grateful I got tickets last week by chance. Bette was defientely a once-in-a-lifetime performance. She was funny, charismatic, and fierce. 

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 8/13/17 at 1:43pm

haterobics - I too want to say that I'm so happy you and your grandmother were able to have this moment together. What a beautiful memory to have and I sincerely hope you're able to go to another show together. These kinds of stories are what theater is really about. Thank you for sharing.

Also, as my parents are both losing/have lost their hearing, I understand your worry about whether she was actually able to hear or just pretending and whether she was getting the full experience. I'm glad the listening devices worked for her.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/13/17 at 1:49pm

Aw, Haterobics, thanks for sharing.  Truth be told, you had me at: " I took my 94 year old grandmother..."