HELLO, DOLLY! Reviews- Page 8

[NYadgal]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 12:32am

Wow, wow, WOW!

What a special and wonderful night of theater!   I can't stop smiling - and was moved to tears a few times because it was just pure JOY! 

 

[DAME]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 1:12am

Glad you liked it Deb.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 1:28am

I wouldn't believe anyone who says there's been an offer made to replace Bette already. There's no doubt that Scott Rudin will try and move heaven and earth to get her to extend before they start formally looking for her replacement.

Could there be names that have been bandied about internally by the production? Sure, and they're probably most of the women who are discussed here every time this comes up. But the process of looking into another actress to keep the show open won't start until they know definitively when they're losing Bette. I imagine she wouldn't even entertain the discussion of a possible extension (even if only for a few months) until after award season, etc.

Updated On: 4/22/17 at 01:28 AM

[Almira]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 2:08am

I've never been more grateful for a theatre review then Terry Teachout's for the WSJ. 

He cut though the BS and told the truth. 

This production is a frustrating mess.



 

 

Updated On: 4/22/17 at 02:08 AM

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 5:56am

The WSJ- and you- are certainly entitled to your opinions- but you are ids the distinct minority- quite obviously. I LOVED the production and found it to be pure joy for two and a half hours. I am sure there are people who find Hamilton a bore- who find Book Of Mormon offensive, and that is fine by me. Which shows, might I ask, did you find enthralling?

 

 

Updated On: 4/22/17 at 05:56 AM

[Scripps2]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 6:01am

Interesting that so many British critics have reviewed this. Since it was always going to be critic-proof dare I suggest that some of them, like Cornelius and Barnaby, just wanted to put on their Sunday clothes and have a jolly in New York at their employers' expense!

Anyway, the most important words in the Gay Times review are "London transfer, please."

[Scripps2]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 6:04am

And how is the train, btw? Does one's spine tingle when it comes on stage during Put on Your Sunday Clothes?

[Scripps2]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 6:09am

And why has David Hyde Pierce been made up to look like William Ewart Gladstone?!

[Jimmyb1969]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 7:58am

Nobody even cares what Terry Teachout thinks. His little stunt of early posting was so obvious. Plus a review that doesn't make any attempt to be fair and balanced is frankly irresponsible on his part, his editors and ultimately the paper. Come on...really? In stinker shows like War Paint, Amelie and Charlie one can always find some light in the dark. Bottomline The WSJ is irrelevant in the art world and Terry T's career is over. If I were producers I would simply ask that Terry and the WSJ not attend. If you're going to pull stunts like that then don't even bother. Opinion and thoughtful commentary are one thing but nasty, mean spirited and ludicrous reviews like Terry's and his early release stunt are unacceptable. And  frankly classless.  What a lump.

 

[Jimmyb1969]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 7:58am

Nobody even cares what Terry Teachout thinks. His little stunt of early posting was so obvious. Plus a review that doesn't make any attempt to be fair and balanced is frankly irresponsible on his part, his editors and ultimately the paper. Come on...really? In stinker shows like War Paint, Amelie and Charlie one can always find some light in the dark. Bottomline The WSJ is irrelevant in the art world and Terry T's career is over. If I were producers I would simply ask that Terry and the WSJ not attend. If you're going to pull stunts like that then don't even bother. Opinion and thoughtful commentary are one thing but nasty, mean spirited and ludicrous reviews like Terry's and his early release stunt are unacceptable. And  frankly classless.  What a lump.

 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 8:06am

I've seen critics accuse the supporting cast of playing too broad. Wasn't the original production played this way? When you cast Eileen Brennan, Charles Nelson Reilly and Carol Channing you aren't going for Checkov. Heck you're barely going for Thornton Wilder.

[carnzee]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 8:42am

MrsSallyAdams said : When you cast Eileen Brennan, Charles Nelson Reilly and Carol Channing you aren't going for Checkov. 

 

That would be one highly unusual production of Three Sisters. 

 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 9:07am

 

The production, the cast, the designs, the orchestra are all operating in Perfect Mode. Absolutely perfect, pitch perfect, confection perfect. Jerry Zaks deserves not just a Tony but a Nobel Prize for instilling such joie de vivre into every aspect of this production. Musical-comedy high spirits are hard in this day-and-age. This production makes it seem as if it had never gone away.

The overture immediately puts the entire audience into a kind of sugar rush that feels startlingly therapeutic and doesn't let up until everyone spills out into Shubert Alley.

As the exit music played at the end, one rapturously happy lady walking up the aisle and exclaimed, to no one in particular, "Everyone's SO happy!" Then she caught my equally smiling eye and added, "For the first time in months."

The sight of the suffragette banner during the 14th Street parade also evoked a spontaneous cheer, as if to echo the lyric and say "Pardon us if our old spirit is showing." We all want to feel our hearts coming alive again, and this musical is telling us we can.

And, yes, Scrippsy, everyone's hearts leap in unison as the train comes on, as all hearts do similarly for the reveals of the tableaux of dancers in "Sunday Clothes" and "Dancing" and "Before the Parade," as well as the entrance of the horse-drawn carriage (Addy and I chatted briefly afterward with the young man who plays the shapely front legs of the carriage--he is also the vacant knee Dolly sits on briefly, and he is having the time of his life).

He told us that on the first day of rehearsal Jerry Zaks told the cast the the Washington tryout of the original production happened in the wake of the assassination of JFK. The entire country was in mourning and worried that more violence was on the way. Hello, Dolly came as a soothing, healing balm back then--and Bette and Jerry and this production fulfill that legacy, just about as perfectly as could be imagined.

Here's hoping we all can feel our hearts coming alive again.

 

Updated On: 4/22/17 at 09:07 AM

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 9:28am

Great review Pal Joey.

To me, this production is more than the sum of its great parts because it immediately grabs the audience by the heartstrings and never lets go. I have never seen an entire audience so revved up and engaged like this.

Dolly Fever.

ETA: Eagerly awaiting Richard Skipper's review. He was there opening night in the front row, and also attended the post-show party at the NY Public Library. He was the invited guest of a woman who "won" the tickets in an online charity auction. Richard is a Dolly scholar, his blog Call on Dolly from Carol to Bette is a treasure trove of information. http://www.callondolly.com/

Updated On: 4/22/17 at 09:28 AM

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 9:30am

Sounds great, I am going to see it with my entire family Labor day weekend.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 9:34am

"Musical-comedy high spirits are hard in this day-and-age. This production makes it seem as if it had never gone away."

 

I entirely agree. The sad thing is, they never should have gone away in the first place. Nor did they have to. Nor did audiences want them to.

But some people did. And they got their way, unfortunately.

Pal Joey, perhaps you --- and others here --- should think about those responsible for that.

In any event, I'm glad you enjoyed the show.
 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 9:45am

 

Thank you, After Eight, but if if every dish were pudding, we would never have lamb.

 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 10:18am

I sent my mother the video of Bette taking her fabulous opening night bows and she was brought back to the performance we attended a month ago. She can't stop talking about it. 

Things have been strained between us since the election, but the Divine Miss M and this lavish candy shop of a production brought us back together- if not permanently, then at least for a while.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 11:25am

Here's a YouTube link to the joyous opening night curtain call:

https://youtu.be/od1GDmfPldY

[JBC3]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 11:44am

PalJoey said: " 

Thank you, After Eight, but if if every dish were pudding, we would never have lamb.

 

"

Yes! And how great that rapturous responses are often evoked by very diverse (and sometimes even divisive) shows.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 11:52am

 

The entire musical is about rebirth, despite its frivolous facade: Three of the main characters are hoping to find new happiness after the death of a spouse (Dolly, Irene, and Horace), and Cornelius at 33 is facing of life that would imprison him as a kind of indentured servant to Vandergelder.

Two of the songs are about reconnecting to a community ("Before the Parade" and the title number), and four of the songs are about finding happiness before it's too late ("Sunday Clothes," "Dancing," "Before the Parade," and "It Only Takes a Moment". 

For such a confection of a musical, there are strains of desperation in all the main characters--sometimes comic, sometimes poignant--mixed with a fierce determination (especially fierce on the parts of Dolly, Irene, and Cornelius) to persevere.

But mostly it's fun.

 

 

[DAME]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 12:16pm

PJ,  I am so glad you enjoyed it.  I was really looking forward to your thoughts.   Did you buy any merch?  I picked up a few "I meddle" shirts for red day at Disneyland.  And the mug with the inscription "Isn't the world full of wonderful things" is gorgeous. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 12:18pm

I LOVE that they have a shirt with "It's a little lumpy, but it rings."

[DAME]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 12:21pm

I didn't see that one!  Twill get it.  But the mug is gorgeous and I also got the magnet.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 12:23pm

They have a really great vintage-looking tote with "Vandergelder's Hay & Feed Store" on it.