HELLO, DOLLY! Previews — Page 27

All I knew of "Hello Dolly" were the snippets in the film, "Wall-e". This is definitely the most old-school musical I've ever seen and I loved every second. It is a joyous experience. Bette is sensational. Her voice sounds great. She is so silly-as a poster said, lots of facial expressions and physical comedy. She gives it her all... and the crowd was all in. They were cheering for her. After the title number, the place erupted. After flubbing her lines, she broke character, turned to the crowd, and said, "I'm old and tired," and the audience went nuts. She could do no wrong. She was so charming. There were some very touching moments as well. I cried several times. Hell, I cried when she made her entrance in the "Hello Dolly" dress. The costumes were gorgeous, especially the ones in the "Sunday Clothes" number (so colorful!) and the sets were impressive. It was a lot of fun. It's surprising to me, because I usually go for more modern material, but she is just so freaking good. I left the theatre smiling.

I just saw Bette for $198 partial view orchestra. Seats were great- missed some but not a lot.

I hope to see Donna as well at hopefully a lower price. I love to repeat shows to see diff cast members.

A Director said: "It nice to know there is musical with a 71 year old star who can sing the score unlike the musical with a 70 year old star who can't.

It appears this show has sucked the air out of War Paint."

I have observed your vendetta against Patti LuPone for the past 10 years on this message board. What ever did she do to you??

Is it just me or does anyone else feel the opening scenes of the second act quite stuffy? Bette is marvelous, but I fear the rest of the cast kind of suffer because no one can really match up to this legend.

ACL2006 said: "I'm considering seeing the show with Donna Murphy in late June when Midler's on vacation. Tickets are drastically cheaper(as expected). Anyone else just settling for seeing Murphy due to the prices Midler is commanding?



I'm not settling. I'd much rather see Murphy than Midler. It just works out for me that it's cheaper, and also that Midler is out the first week of November, which is when I always go to NY.

Having seen both, it is impossible not to recognize that Patti out-acts and out-sings Bette by a considerable margin.



That may be. And that's fine. We're talking "Hello, Dolly!" here, not Shakespeare. And Bette doesn't need to prove to us that she can sing or act. Her six-decade-long career that has her standing near the edge of the EGOT club speaks for itself. You can't 'act' likeability or natural warmth. Bette is all of these things and more. She's having a ball up there and takes the audience along for the ride every night. She certainly doesn't take herself too seriously, knowing when to break the fourth wall and have fun with it (because at the end of the day, who doesn't love when an actor does that to rapturous applause and laughter).

And can you picture Patti giving the final bow to a show she's starring in... with her name above the title... to an understudy? She's too busy saying "make it quick!" to a touring actor/singer who came to see "War Paint" and asked for her picture at the stage door afterward (not me). Meanwhile after Saturday's show at Dolly, DHP walked around the entire perimeter to sign and take pictures with a huge crowd. And he couldn't have been more gracious. And yes, Ms. LuPone... he's a bigger star than you.

Seriously Patti. I love you but don't you think it's finally time to get over yourself?

Whether any actor wants to pose for pictures is their choice. Quite frankly, I cringe when I hear someone ask for a 'selfie' with an actor at the stage door. You missed my point. It's how she reacted to that request that tied back to what I had said about natural warmth. Bette has it. Patti doesn't. And that's fine. Patti does Patti and people love her for that. Some people are the "make it quick!" type to their fans who have just paid a lot of money to see them, some are the overly gracious let-me-smile-and-sign-for-as-many-people-possible-because-its-part-of-the-job type, and some are the classy I-won't-sign-but-Ill-still-walk-around-and-greet-all-of-you type.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oexiPn7hrTM

Oy. What time is my hanging?

haterobics said: "Zamedy154 said: "She's too busy saying "make it quick!" to a touring actor/singer who came to see "War Paint" and asked for her picture at the stage door afterward (not me). Meanwhile after Saturday's show at Dolly, DHP walked around the entire perimeter to sign and take pictures with a huge crowd."

When you were comparing them onstage, it was Bette vs Patti. But when you needed to make a stage door point, you had to switch to DHP, I guess since Bette hasn't been posing for pics with anyone?!



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It was much more special to have her shake my hand . She was so genuine as well. I am very impressed with her.

Just from my personal observation at intermission, it's very close to the stage. A big PLUS is that Bette goes around shaking hands with people in the front row so you may get lucky.

I also have tickets to see Donna Murphy, and I must say that I am more excited about seeing her than I am to see Bette. Don't get me wrong. I love Bette Midler, but I feel like I'd be paying all that money to see "Bette Midler" - not "Hello, Dolly" (one of my favorite shows). I'm sure she's wonderful, but I actually think it's very hard for an audience to divorce "Bette" from "Dolly." I think Donna will give us a deeply felt Dolly for this generation.

I wonder if this kind of casting will create a new model for star-casting on Broadway. Two stars headlining a show encourages the ticket buyer to see it twice. I think it certainly worked for the new Sweeney. I jumped too get another ticket when I heard Norm and Carolee were going to be in the show!

I love Bette Midler, but I feel like I'd be paying all that money to see "Bette Midler" - not "Hello, Dolly" (one of my favorite shows).

FYI: every actress in the original Broadway production played Dolly in their own public personas - Carol Channing, Mary Martin, Pearl Bailey as well as Ethel Merman. This is what made the original production so grand and ran for years: each actress added her own public persona infusions as Bette Midler is doing.

Sadly, Donna Murphy doesn't have a mass audience public persona therefore her audiences with be composed of her fans and people unaware of her.

BrodyFosse123 said: "I love Bette Midler, but I feel like I'd be paying all that money to see "Bette Midler" - not "Hello, Dolly" (one of my favorite shows@

brody, beforeI saw the show I had a dreaded feeling that Bette would be merely, even coarsly, grandstanding her own persona rather than portraying Dolly. I assure you (or rather whomever you are quoting) that Bette is totally invested in her character, fully incorporating herself into Dolly, which is exactly how any great star needs to play this role Bette does so with passion, love, grace, warmth, brilliant humor and longing to rejoin the human race. It would not surprise me if you were completely delighted with her performance



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Updated On: 4/15/17 at 08:19 PM

I was. I attended the first preview so I had nothing to go on aside from my assumptions and hopes that she would be playing Dolly Levi infused with her Divine Miss M. After a few moments into the show, I was smiling that my assumptions and hopes were right. Yes, she creates a character but infuses the Divine Miss M in there as well. Especially during those monologues to Efrain that she does on the catwalk and out to the audience.