I would not say Buckley is as high profile/demand of a Broadway name as Gavin or Kate, as it has been over 20 years since her last performance on a Broadway stage in Triumph of Love. Yes her career is very noteworthy, even iconic by some standards, but I would not put Buckley on the same level as Gavin and Kate in terms of current relevance and status on Broadway. However I am quite excited to see Buckley, as I have never seen her live and am quite a fan of hers!
broadwayboy222 said: "I would not say Buckley is as high profile/demand of a Broadway name as Gavin or Kate, as it has been over 20 years since her last performance on a Broadway stage in Triumph of Love. Yes her career is very noteworthy, even iconic by some standards, but I would not put Buckley on the same level as Gavin and Kate in terms of current relevance and status on Broadway. However I am quite excited to see Buckley, as I have never seen her live and am quite a fan of hers!"
Would Gavin and Kate have any relevance to the non-Broadway-following crowd across America, though? Betty Buckley might have a bit more than they do, for those that still remember Eight is Enough (not many anymore, I'm sure) or her recent film work like SPLIT.
I would assume some of the current Bway ensemble will do the tour.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
ActorGuyIL said: "broadwayboy222 said: "I would not say Buckley is as high profile/demand of a Broadway name as Gavin or Kate, as it has been over 20 years since her last performance on a Broadway stage in Triumph of Love. Yes her career is very noteworthy, even iconic by some standards, but I would not put Buckley on the same level as Gavin and Kate in terms of current relevance and status on Broadway. However I am quite excited to see Buckley, as I have never seen her live and am quite a fan of hers!"
Would Gavin and Kate have any relevance to the non-Broadway-following crowd across America, though? Betty Buckley might have a bit more than they do, for those that still remember Eight is Enough (not many anymore, I'm sure) or her recent film work like SPLIT.
"
I would think Gavin would have some pull due to his Tony win for this performance.
ActorGuyIL said: "Would Gavin and Kate have any relevance to the non-Broadway-following crowd across America, though? Betty Buckley might have a bit more than they do, for those that still remember Eight is Enough (not many anymore, I'm sure) or her recent film work like SPLIT."
Unless the marketing included things about "Gavin Creel in his Tony-winning performance," their names will not mean much to the general public (with the exception of theatre-savvy folks in major cities).
Betty Buckley means more than them, but her name is still bigger in New York than around the country.
I have never attended a Betty Buckley concert on the West Coast or near-West Coast that wasn't sold out.....and I've attended many. Don't underestimate her name recognition beyond the Broadway Zip Code. She is extremely popular throughout the country, and has remained so for more than half a century. I am sure that the touring production of "Dolly" will succeed on her reputation alone.
Cat Guy said: "I have never attended a Betty Buckley concert on the West Coast or near-West Coast that wasn't sold out.....and I've attended many. Don't underestimate her name recognition beyond the Broadway Zip Code. She is extremely popular throughout the country, and has remained so for more than half a century. I am sure that the touring production of "Dolly" will succeed on her reputation alone."
That is not true. I have attended many Betty concerts and gigs in the West Coast, Probably most of them. And they have NEVER been sold out. Which always makes me sad. She is a formidable talent.
When I saw her at the Wallis Center maybe a year ago they closed off the balcony and moved people down to the orchestra. Not anywhere near sold out. So lets not get delusional here.
SmokeyLady said: "When I saw her at the Wallis Center maybe a year ago they closed off the balcony and moved people down to the orchestra. Not anywhere near sold out. So lets not get delusional here."
DAME said: "Cat Guy said: "I have never attended a Betty Buckley concert on the West Coast or near-West Coast that wasn't sold out.....and I've attended many. Don't underestimate her name recognition beyond the Broadway Zip Code. She is extremely popular throughout the country, and has remained so for more than half a century. I am sure that the touring production of "Dolly" will succeed on her reputation alone."
That is not true. "
I state what I have experienced, and you call me a liar?
Just called and put my name on the subscription list for the Summer Series next year that includes “Hello, Dolly!” with Betty Buckley. They’ll hold my place in line based on first-called first-served, along with past subscription holders. Very excited to have the opportunity to see the tour twice, the second time in my own backyard (albeit Pittsburgh is a two-hour drive one-way).
The Pittsburgh CLO offers some very good shows next summer, so I also picked “Oklahoma” and “Once”.
Now that it’s August, and we’re just weeks away from the Broadway run of the show closing, it’s all the more real for me getting excited to see the National Tour in October. I’d love to see the show opening night as well, but it’s a long drive to Cleveland (4hrs) to do that twice in one week.
Still, there’s the Utica preview shows in late September, so it’ll be interesting to hear how that goes, since we can assume that reversals and casting in NYC has been going on for a couple of weeks now.
I’m applying to Center Access at Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa. The program gives 70% off discounts to selected performances for students, seniors, educators and military families. I’m hoping Hello Dolly will be one of those shows offered to me. The show won’t be here until January.
^ ^ ^ Good luck! If it’s anything close to what’s been on Broadway with cast personalities, it’ll be wonderful. But that may take some time. The opportunity to see the show in Oct 2018 and again in Aug 2019 will give me a chance to see how they’ve grown into their roles.
And I’m sort of surprised they announced the Pittsburgh tour stop so far in advance, but it’ll boost sales for the CLO with their other shows. Last year the Broadway National Tour of “An American in Paris” was also offered by the CLO, but they have such a enormous presence in how the Pittsburgh CLO made that show even possible.
dmwnc1959 said: And I’m sort of surprised they announced the Pittsburgh tour stop so far in advance, but it’ll boost sales for the CLO with their other shows. Last year the Broadway National Tour of “An American in Paris” was also offered by the CLO, but they have such a enormous presence in how the Pittsburgh CLO made that show even possible."
It doesn't have anything to do with the tour deciding when to announce, but rather Pittsburgh CLO announcing it as the presenter of the tour. Pittsburgh CLO always announces its entire season a year in advance, so current subscribers are enticed to renew during the current season. It's money in the bank a year in advance.
They always present a national tour as part of their subscription season, with the other shows being locally produced, or sometimes a "mini-tour" shared with 2 or 3 regional companies (such as "The Little Mermaid" a few years ago).
Based on their "CLO on Broadway" credits, I was almost certain "Cats" would be the 2019 tour, but perhaps they opted out since they just did their own production a few years ago.
Tickets are on sale now for HD in Chicago on a special pre-sale - use the word DOLLY to access tickets. Tickets go on sale to the general public on August 10th.
sbflyfan said: “They always present a national tour as part of their subscription season, with the other shows being locally produced, or sometimes a "mini-tour" shared with 2 or 3 regional companies (such as "The Little Mermaid" a few years ago)."
Pittsburgh CLO, although “locally produced”, does a very good job and gets very good reviews. The cast isn’t just first-timers, but also longtime Pittsburgh CLO alumni and Broadway artists with Broadway experience. I know I’ve read cast bios on some of the National Tour shows I’ve seen, and some Broadway shows I had wanted to see, and wasn’t too surprised to see some of them had come from the Pittsburgh CLO.
And I just wish “Hello, Dolly!” was playing longer in Pittsburgh. One thing I did notice was that the Boston run looked to be rescheduled to now end later that what was initially published - even documented on the spreadsheet that was making its rounds on this forum - and I even sent a Contact Us email to one site to add Pittsburgh and correct the tour schedule for Boston.
Pittsburgh CLO is one of the oldest and best summer stock theatres in the US. I've seen many of their shows over the years, and they have always been very, very good.
nealb1 said: "Pittsburgh CLO is one of the oldest and best summer stock theatres in the US. I've seen many of their shows over the years, and they have always been very, very good."
Looking forward to see how they do “Oklahoma” and “Once”, both highly respected and awarded Broadway productions. :)