HELLO, DOLLY! Previews- Page 10

[pnewelljr]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 9:33pm

GavestonPS said: "pnewelljr said: "I have a side question. Can anyone tell me more about Bette Midler compared to Donna Murphy, just in general (as we obviously can't compare their performances at this point)? Why is Bette such a big deal?"

I'm speaking of Bette Midler in her prime here. Donna Murphy is almost certainly a superior actress; Bette Midler is the greatest entertainer I have ever seen live. In her day, there was real danger in a Midler concert, a palpable feeling that she just might--and often did--say or do ANYthing! In later years, she learned (had to learn, really, after collapsing on stage) to save her voice, energy, etc., so that her outrageousness is more show than reality. But it was still damn, good show! She actually came to sing better and her comic timing lost nothing in the process.

I am green with envy of those of you who get to see her in DOLLY!"

Thanks for your response, the exact kind of thing I was hoping to hear, people who have seen her live and can really understand why she is special.

I somehow by an act of God will get to see this tomorrow, and I am even more excited to experience my first time seeing her and Hello Dolly (other than the movie, of course). :)

Updated On: 3/16/17 at 09:33 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 9:45pm

^^^ Good for you! Please let us know how you find the experience.

(Obviously, Midler playing Dolly will be different from Midler playing her Divine Miss M character in concert.)

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:09pm

 "pnewelljr said: "I asked what I thought was a simple question, I am honestly sorry if I offended anyone. I am not a troll, and I thought it might be a good way to learn about her from her fans. I apologize again to anyone I upset. I did, in fact, google her, again I was hoping to learn something I didn't know. I am sorry if my question was inappropriate."

Dont worry pnewelljr - all will be forgiven! To give you a little background ... Midler is a Showbusiness legend (the word legend if often tossed around too much but she really is). I will give you some highlights to illustrate.

- fifty years in the industry

- millions of album sales 

- 25 albums released

- one of the few artists with a top 10 album in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s. Her most recent in 2014 reached number three

- a tony award, Emmy awards, golden globes and two oscar nominations

- over a twenty movie roles (during the mid to late eighties she was the top comedy draw) Download some of her comedy movies; they are great.(She even offered her Dolly director Jerry Zak's a sex act in Outrageous Fortune - hilarious scene!) Also take a look at The Rose - an unbelievable performance. You may have heard of other iconic Midler movies - Beaches, Hocus Pocus, The First Wives Club

- Sold out world tours

- She created a not for profit that has done wonders for the New York parks over the last 20 years

- She has created another not for profit that renews school theatres

- An early advocate for the gay rights movement and longtime icon within the GLBTQI community

 

Midler in performance is electric - there is no real way to describe it...you just have to see it. She can make you laugh and then cry within seconds of each other. You feel like the performance is just for you and her love and energy is palpable.  Watch Divine Madness or Diva Las Vegas and you will get a tiny glimpse but the only real way to truly 'Experience the Divine' is to see her in the flesh.


There are very few people who have had such long and successful careers. Think of her in the same category as Barbara Streisand, Cher, David Bowie, Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland - If you know about any of these people and imagine them on Broadway  - Midler is the same Calibre.

Hope this gives you a little insight :)


 

 

Updated On: 3/16/17 at 10:09 PM

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:10pm

Certainly one can get a sense of Bette's magic from watching her in "The Rose" or "Ruthless People." Or a film of her concert show, DIvine Madness, or multitudes of other clips, but one that I still find most magic is her performance on Johnny Carson's farewell show when she sang "One More for the Road" to him (I think she received an Emmy for it).

I can't wait until May 12 when I see her in Dolly.

Updated On: 3/16/17 at 10:10 PM

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:12pm

GavestonPS said: "pnewelljr said: "I have a side question. Can anyone tell me more about Bette Midler compared to Donna Murphy, just in general (as we obviously can't compare their performances at this point)? Why is Bette such a big deal?

 

"

I'm speaking of Bette Midler in her prime here. Donna Murphy is almost certainly a superior actress; Bette Midler is the greatest entertainer I have ever seen live. In her day, there was real danger in a Midler concert, a palpable feeling that she just might--and often did--say or do ANYthing! In later years, she learned (had to learn, really, after collapsing on stage) to save her voice, energy, etc., so that her outrageousness is more show than reality. But it is still damn, good show! She actually sings better and her comic timing has lost nothing in the process.

As for Midler v. Murphy, I'd be thrilled to see either one. But the role calls for a bravura performance more than acting skill, which is why Midler is starring and Murphy, as good as she is, is doing Tuesdays.

(I too was surprised by your question at first. But then I really couldn't see anything wrong with it. Scanning a list of credits doesn't really tell one why a performer has appeal. I know WHY Mary Pickford and Louise Brooks were important based on their resumes, but that means little in terms of why they had so much appeal.)

I am green with envy of those of you who get to see her in DOLLY!

 

"

Great answer. Listen, I've been a fan of Bette since I was five years old, and even I was fine with the asking of this question. On this board every other thread is a "should I see this or that" and no one says "Go Google the reviews" even though that would probably make more sense. It's fine to ask why he should care about either one. 

pnewelljr, while I am jealous you'll get to see the show before I do - my sick/now deceased cat ate up my Bette funds - I hope you'll become her newest fan!

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:20pm

Illustration by Ken Fallin

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:21pm

Beautiful answer, everythingtaboo.

[pnewelljr]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:32pm

Thank you all (@MarkBearSF @Jed2 @GavestonPS) for your perspectives, really interesting to hear and now I just feel embarrassed for not already knowing more about her.

And also thank you @everythingtaboo, I hope I do too!

[kofler22]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:49pm

Any update on what has happened tonight when they stopped the show? Have they re started or has it been cancelled? 

[musicals1989]

Posted: 3/16/17 at 10:54pm

Twitter says that an audience member had a medical emergency so they halted the show tonight. I'm sure they took care of it and restarted the show. No reason to cancel. 

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 12:11am

We were there tonight. I can't think of anything else to say that hasn't already been said. It was a spectacular evening from start to finish. I haven't been this giddy after seeing a show in quite a long time, and it feels marvelous. This is the kind of show that we need right now. I was smiling through the whole show, and I may not stop smiling for awhile. Bette had the audience eating out of her hand from the moment she appeared on stage. Standing O after the title song. DHP surprised me with how good he was, and the rest of the leads were equally outstanding. The ensemble was incredible and always on point. The sets and costumes were breathtaking. I am so grateful to the great Ms. Midler for choosing to do this show, and blessing the world with this beautiful production. As someone said earlier, this should run for years......I say we NEED this to run for years. 

I''m so fortunate that we got to see this. We sat right orchestra, row F, seats 2 and 4. Perfect seats. It's the most I've ever paid for tickets at the box office, and I feel like it was a bargain. 

On a more serious note, the medical emergency did stop the first act for about 20 minutes. Before they restarted the show they made an announcement that the person was in stable condition. We don't know what the emergency was (it was mid orchestra and further back), but our prayers go out to him. 

Updated On: 3/17/17 at 12:11 AM

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 12:11am

Double post, which always happens when I use my phone, sorry. 

Updated On: 3/17/17 at 12:11 AM

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 12:33am

Glad to hear the audience member was in stable condition. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 2:12am

(Obviously, Midler playing Dolly will be different from Midler playing her Divine Miss M character in concert.)

Bette is actually playing Dolly Levi in her Divine Miss M persona, which is a smart choice.  She plays her scenes and delivers her lines in delicious Divine Miss M fabulousness.  Even her facial expressions, etc.  

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 2:27am

Darlings, I simply need to see this. "Hello, Dolly!" is one of the few shows that I sincerely believe is perfect - every song, every word in the book, and perfect staging (all because of that genius Gower). This sounds like utter perfection. I love that they are keeping much of the original staging and the lavish costumes - and a rather large orchestra, for today! The new overture has be excited, "Penny In my Pocket" makes me giddy, and Bette... well, Bette has me thrilled. I'm sure Donna will be rapturous as well. This is the theatrical event of a lifetime!

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 2:50am

I saw that Larry Hochman is doing the orchestrations.  Are they new or were they written for a previous production?

[mc1227]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 6:31am

Very excited to see this show but my tickets are in October.  Not sure I can wait that long.  It seems that people have been able to get a ticket or two on Ticketmaster the day before?  Are these resales?  I thought the show was completely sold out?   

[frik]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 6:42am

Huge Bette Midler fan from the Netherlands here. First time I saw miss Midler was way back in the 70s, in Vancouver's (British Columbia) The Cave. I caught a few more of Bette's shows a couple of years later (again in Vancouver, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre) but then I moved to the Netherlands and never saw Bette live again.
Of course, when I found out bette would be Dolly Levi I just had to be there. The day tickets went on sale I was hunting for the best seats I could find. Well...unfortunately I could not get closer to the stage than Orchestra left, row N. Which kinds of spoils the fun a bit.......It's still not a bad seat (right?) but flying in from Europe, just to see this show....It should have been better.
Right?

Just thought I'd share...

sk

Updated On: 3/17/17 at 06:42 AM

[Lenexajones]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 7:21am

mc1227 said: "Very excited to see this show but my tickets are in October.  Not sure I can wait that long.  It seems that people have been able to get a ticket or two on Ticketmaster the day before?  Are these resales?  I thought the show was completely sold out?   

 

"

We bought ours on Seat Geek the late afternoon of the opening preview. Our flight out of NYC was cancelled so there were a lot of resale tix available from folks who were unable to get to NYC. We were blessed to pay a fraction of face value for front row tix. As curtain time got closer, ticket prices dropped significantly. I think luck had a lot to do with our good fortune. 

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 8:04am

I just bought some tickets on telecharge.  I have been looking for days but all i could find were premium seats that i can't afford.

So now i was happy to see that they have released some seats far ochestra at 189 dollar.

Happy i get to see this show during previews, early april

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 8:20am

mc1227 said: "I thought the show was completely sold out? "

No such thing. A lot of seats have never been made available for sale, to hold for future premiums. There are house seats, producer's seats, and some of the side orchestra was only made available once the show loaded in... pretty normal. There will also be premiums that can flip back to regular price a few hours to showtime.

[Zamedy154]

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

I've been literally moved to giddy gay boy tears reading these reviews. This musical was my first in high school and it literally changed my life, opening the door to all new friends still with me 20 years later. I was officially an 'outed' music nerd. I had found my family.

Needless to say, I'm beyond happy (and extremely jealous) of everyone seeing this incredible production. I've been listening to the OBC for the past two months while getting ready for work. The title song is one of THE GREATEST works of art in Broadway history. For those who have seen it, do you get chills and goosebumps as you are watching this song preformed by a true legend? Just listening to that banjo right before the final reprise, followed immediately by that reprise, makes the hair stand up on my arms. Every. Time. I hope the banjo (is it a banjo? I apologize for my instrumental ignorance) is still in there.

IMO, the OBC of the title song is much more impactful than what so many more people have heard on the movie soundtrack.

Seeing Bette in 2017 performing this song on Broadway in all her glory must be pure HEAVEN. 

There go those chills again. 

 

 

 

[LJD123]

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

Does anyone know what the sight lines are like at the Shubert?  Would be coming from Boston to see Bette with tiny 15 year old daughter as a bday gift.  Would either have to buy resale or premium tix & wondering what the rake is like in the orchestra?  Premium tix are in rows L and M but for that $$$ want to make sure we can SEE  Are we better off in the front mezz if we can get it?  Blowing the budget on this one for sure....

Thanks!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 8:58am

Is the balcony generally more available (understanding that every ticket is tight)?  Meaning, sooner? I'm remembering early days of "Spamalot" in the same house. If you were willing to sit in the balcony, you could get seats at the box office months earlier. The pricier seats were the tough ones.  Is it true here?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/17/17 at 9:17am

I am so glad I purchased tickets to a couple of back-to-back performances for early April.  I am really looking forward to this.