HELLO, DOLLY! Reviews- Page 9

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 3:10pm

PalJoey said: " 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". 

"

 

PJ, I knew you would love the production. I saw it when it first started previews and have been grinning ear to ear every time I think of it.

I also loved your description of the show, but personally I would say there were five songs about finding happiness before it's too late.  I would add "Ribbons Down My Back", which is one of my favorites from the show (especially as now delivered by the perfect Kate Baldwin".

 

Posted: 4/22/17 at 4:09pm

What a wonderful night - there is nothing I can add that hasn't already been said. Perfect in every way - even had a brief conversation with Bette at stage door (and my partner got a hug from the Divine one :) She is a class act all the way .

One odd thing; we had a wheelchair and companion seat and my partner was offered a comfy seat to sit in so we transferred him out of his chair. Anyway, there were people standing behind us and when I looked around just prior to interval for the wheelchair, (an $8000 custom fitted chair due to his disability requirements), one of the people standing had decided they would be more comfortable in his chair. I immediately said "what do you think you are doing?" and their response was "it's alright for you, you have a chair - we have to stand for the whole show and I have a sore back so don't  be greedy with two chairs." I have to compliment the usher who overheard  this conversation and jumped on the situation immediately. But who ever heard of someone doing / saying something like that??

 

Someone has probably already done this, but if not I have made a list of the merchandise I could find ... after leaving the theatre just under $500 lighter!!)

 

Each $10

Logo Magnet

Train Lapel Pin

Logo Lapel Pin

Playbill Binder Insert

 

Each $15

Logo Keychain

Money Clip

 

Each $20

Ticket Holder

Vander Tote

 

Each $25

Logo Tote

Mug

 

Each $30

Windowcard (Dolly Poster)

'I Meddle tee'

'But it Rings' Tee

'Dancing' Tee

My First Broadway show tee

 

Each $35

Logo Tee

 

Silk Scarf $65

Jacket $75

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 7:19pm

 

Absolutely! "Ribbons" is absolutely a fifth.

 

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 8:28pm

I am making gift bags for the others in my group going in June and I bought the Dolly pins for all us (to wear to the show). I think they are a good buy. I am also making some Hello Dolly bars for the bags. This is just too much fun!

Jed2, thanks for the heads up about the wheelchair.

Updated On: 4/23/17 at 08:28 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 11:01pm

"if every dish were pudding, we would never have lamb."

Except we've been deprived of pudding for over forty years now. That's a long time. Those responsible for our deprivation --- and we all know who they are ---  achieved their aims, all right --- and  then some.

It's wonderful that Hello, Dolly! is back on Broadway to bring joy to so many. It lets us see all too clearly what we could have had and should have had all these years, if only spite hadn't triumphed,  to the detriment of theatregoers everywhere.
 

[Marlothom]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 11:22pm

I saw this on Friday night and it was so lovely. This was my senior musical in high school and it brought back such special memories. . . Dolly's monologue before the parade moved me to tears, and while Bette does not go for the big notes, the warmth in her tone is so amazing.   It will be interesting to see how this company plays with Donna Murphy.  

Random note: I spotted Clive Davis seated by me.  

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 11:32pm

Is there a website for merchandise? 

[Jish]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 11:11am

oooh - I see the mention of a playbill binder insert in the merch list. What does this mean? A sleeve that fits in the Playbill binder with some sort of custom Hello Dolly theme? Or just the same plain ones you order from Playbill?

[theNYCpro]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 1:23pm

Jish:

 

Its a regular playbill binder but on the bottom right corner it has the 'Bette Midler Hello Dolly" logo text in red. Loved the idea so we got one, but because the playbill is also red, the sleeve logo is less noticeable when you put it in. Great idea, not the best execution.

 

Also there are two magnets, the red logo with text as well as the logo on the Schubert Theater marquee. 

[Scripps2]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 4:07pm

That's a great analysis of Hello Dolly, PJ, none of which had occurred to me but is absolutely there. It would seem that Jerry Herman's score moves quickly to our hearts whilst leaving almost-impenetrable footprints in our mind.

[JBC3]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 5:45pm

After Eight said: ""if every dish were pudding, we would never have lamb."

Except we've been deprived of pudding for over forty years now. That's a long time. Those responsible for our deprivation --- and we all know who they are ---  achieved their aims, all right --- and  then some.

It's wonderful that Hello, Dolly! is back on Broadway to bring joy to so many. It lets us see all too clearly what we could have had and should have had all these years, if only spite hadn't triumphed,  to the detriment of theatregoers everywhere."

 

I do not know what kind of bizarre theatre diet you have been on, but I have had a hell of a lot of pudding the past 20 years.

 

[RussT2]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 6:48pm

We saw the show on Saturday the 22nd. It was everything I hoped it would be! Even outside the theater the mood was electric and the show was just pure happiness. Of course Bette was amazing, and so was newcomer Beany Feldstein and the rest of the cast. Sets and costumes were spot on. The only negative I'll chime in on was Gavin Creel. He was adequate, but I didn't feel anything from his performance. Maybe it's me, but that's what I felt.

[djoko84]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 7:56pm

broadwayboy223 said: "Didn't someone post on here they were friends with someone who was friends with Bernadette and that she's been asked to replace Midler? 

 

"

A friend of a friend of a friend? You're kidding me with this post, right?

[Boday]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 8:20pm

Saw the show last night and all I can say is WOW!!! Everything was just so good and so special and the energy in the theater was insane! I wouldn't change a single thing.

Bette flubbed a line during "I Put My Hand In" and yelled "stop!" And they reset and restarted. It was amazing to see how quickly everybody got right back into the groove of things and of course the way she said it was pretty comical.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 10:58pm

Why ‘Put On Your Sunday Clothes’ in ‘Hello, Dolly!’ is making people crazy happy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/04/21/why-put-on-your-sunday-clothes-in-hello-dolly-is-making-people-crazy-happy/?utm_term=.760dcf4ce760

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/23/17 at 11:16pm

Bette Midler Is Broadway’s Hottest Ticket — But Why Is ‘Hello, Dolly! Still A Thing?

 http://forward.com/culture/369642/bette-midler-is-broadways-hottest-ticket-but-why-is-hello-dolly-still-a-thi/

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 12:41am

Hello, Dolly!, New York — Bette Midler stars in high-spirited fun

An unstoppable juggernaut of old-fashioned schmaltz and star power at the Shubert Theatre

https://www.ft.com/content/12cfaf04-25ac-11e7-a34a-538b4cb30025

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 12:41am

Financial Times- Max McGuinness~

Hello, Dolly!, New York — Bette Midler stars in high-spirited fun

An unstoppable juggernaut of old-fashioned schmaltz and star power at the Shubert Theatre


If you look up “Broadway musical” in a dog-eared theatrical dictionary, the description is bound to sound like Hello, Dolly! A high-kicking chorus line? Catchy tunes? Frocks galore? Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s 1964 extravaganza about a late 19th-century New York “marriage broker” ticks all the boxes. Throw in a barn-storming performance by Bette Midler as the titular Dolly and you’ve got an unstoppable juggernaut of old-fashioned schmaltz and star power.  

Jerry Zaks’s staging sticks resolutely to that familiar formula and eschews any trace of directorial innovation. Midler similarly offers up a blend of unflagging ebullience and eyebrow-cocking wit that is rooted in the tradition of boisterous comic heroines such as Doris Day and Ginger Rogers (who played the same part). Her magnetic stage presence duly compensates for a singing voice that displays limited range and occasionally sounds a bit tired. Playing against type, David Hyde Pierce (who was Niles in Frasier) provides a worthy foil as Horace Vandergelder, the gruff “half-millionaire” shopkeeper destined despite his best efforts to be matched with the veteran matchmaker. On the night I attended, Pierce also adroitly recovered from a lengthy mid-scene hiatus enforced by technical difficulties. Among a well-drilled ensemble, Gavin Creel and Taylor Trensch stand out for their Laurel and Hardyesque rapport as Vandergelder’s two clerks Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker. It all adds up to a slick yet somewhat hollow package that cries out for a smidgen of pathos amid over two hours of relentless merriment. That lack of counterpoint is particularly noticeable during a climactic scene inside a faintly pretentious restaurant midway through Act II. For what seems like an eternity, waiters and diners circulate with total fluency in a bravura display of choreography, never missing a beat. One longs for someone to drop a plate. All obstacles to happiness and romance are similarly surmounted here with a bit too much ease. Hello, Dolly! nonetheless delivers a potent dose of high-spirited fun. Repeated mid-performance standing ovations suggest many theatregoers will find that to be the perfect tonic. Others may feel as if they have just eaten an entire bag of marshmallows.

Updated On: 4/24/17 at 12:41 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 7:37am

 

In other words:

 

"Bah, humbug."  

--The Financial Times

 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 8:22am

I'm going to see this sometime in May. With all these glowing notices with an 8.9 average rating on BWW, I think this may be equal to the magical, beautiful experience I had when I saw The King and I in 2015.

Can't wait. 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 8:25am

Does anyone else besides me have a problem with the way Dolly libels Irene Molloy just so she can be with Horace? She implies that Irene is a gold-digger and offed her previous husbands. And then we see that unlike Dolly, Irene has a legit business and is a lovely lady. I don't like that aspect of Hello Dolly! at all.

[chanel]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 11:10am

A flat-out rave, but with a few suggestions to actually improving the show itself. Scroll down to "Wow, Wow, Wow, Fellas"

http://www.out.com/michael-musto/2017/4/24/bianca-del-rio-id-let-trump-touch-my-psy

 

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 3:18pm

Ken Fallin

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 8:48pm

ROLLING STONE  'Hello, Dolly!': Bette Midler Proves She's the New Queen of Broadway

Divine Miss M reminds us of the star she remains in revival of classic musical – making it a must-see event

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/travers-reviews-bette-midler-in-hello-dolly-broadway-revival-w478376

 

[binau]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 8:55pm

poisonivy2 said: "Does anyone else besides me have a problem with the way Dolly libels Irene Molloy just so she can be with Horace? She implies that Irene is a gold-digger and offed her previous husbands. And then we see that unlike Dolly, Irene has a legit business and is a lovely lady. I don't like that aspect of Hello Dolly! at all.

 

"

 

Yes but Irene isn't in love and she sets her up with someone she is in love with, who is a million times hotter. Dolly was doing it for personal reasons, but I think we are supposed to overlook this for the better outcome that occurred and trust that Dolly knew it would work out for the best all along. A bit of theatre going on here - I don't think we are meant to look badly towards her at the end of the show.