HELLO, DONNA! - Murphy begins performances — Page 16

I just came from the Saturday night performance. Wow wow wow, Donna was absolutely incredible! I won't see Bette until she's back from vacation next week, but honestly, I'm glad my first encounter with this glorious production was with Donna at the helm. Such a beautiful, witty, knowing, funny, touching performance -- and she belted out the songs like nobody's business.

The whole cast blew me away; even DHP who I had been skeptical about. And a special shout out to the fabulous Mr. Creel -- who was even more wonderful than I expected him to be.

The Shubert was packed, and the audience was ecstatic throughout. Rapturous applause greeted the first appearance of all the main cast members. I could tell the audience was really into it when "It Takes A Woman" practically stopped the show early on. (I spoke with Gavin at the stage door after and he commented on how energetic & enthusiastic the audience was tonight.)

From talking to people, it seemed that most were there specifically to see Donna, some having already seen Bette. So there wasn't any "disappointment factor" at play. There was certainly no shortage of love being showered on her during the curtain calls and at the stage door.

I have never been a huge fan of Donna before but after tonight's performance, I am converted. An absolutely incredible showing. I could not stop smiling. The entire cast was on their A game and as controversial as it is, the show worked so much better for me with Donna. Looking forward to seeing Bernadette!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who recommended I go to see Murphy instead of Midler (whom I really couldn't afford). Saw the matinee on Sunday, first row mezz tickets (excellent seats) and had a wonderful time. Never saw Murphy perform before, but WOW - I was totally convinced she was Dolly Levi!

Kudos to the whole cast -especially Gavin Creel and David Hyde Pierce - who were outstanding, as well as everyone to numerous to mention.

Again, thank you all for your strong recommendations of Murphy! So glad I listened to you.

Saw Donna Murphy tonight and she was beyond incredible. David Hyde Pierce and Gavin Creel actually surprised me with how excellent they were in the roles, especially after reading people's initial reactions of Pierce when the show first opened. His performance stood out to me because I didn't know what to expect. Creel showed me that he deserved that Tony ten-fold. Talk about a grade A-calibre Broadway performance. I wish Murphy was on the recording because she brought so much to the role and her singing is still on top of its game. Kate Baldwin and that ensemble deserve all the accolades as well.

This was my first time seeing a staged performance of Hello Dolly! and it really is like the perfectly executed production. The scene transitions were perfect, no wasted scene, every song is memorable (including the way Pierce performed Penny in my Pocket) and hummable, and every performer bringing it. I feel like I got really lucky being able to live here and see that production.

How often are Tuesday performances of Hello, Dolly! on TDF?



I am hoping for a cheaper ticket for Dec. 4, but not sure if I could get the ticket cheaper than what's listed at the moment.

For my money, Donna Murphy is the best Dolly I have seen. Along with Ginger Rogers,whose singing was awful, I felt that she was the only one playing Dolly as a flesh and blood character, not just as herself; plus, she sang the songs out of the ball-park, like no-one I have seen has ever sang them. (Streisand has a great voice, God knows, but I was already getting tired of some of the affectations when the movie was released, although her So Long Dearie is still my favorite version). Murphy was absolutely on fire.

(Admission: I really like Donna Murphy -- anyone who can follow Passion with TKAI and then Wonderful Town is special; but I was not prepared for the unique take on Dolly and the brilliance of the execution. Midler may be the legend, but Murphy is the news here. Maybe in a few years she will come back and perform it 8 times a week if we are all lucky.

Three other points: David Hyde Pierce remains absolutely the best Horace I have seen. Gavin Creel is absolutely the best Cornelius I have ever seen. The production values far exceed the original production. Oliver Smith may have won a Tony, but the sets were cheesy, particularly Harmonia Gardens.

But the overture sucks. It is not brassy enough, some fit is played too slowly. Should have left it out, like Gower Champion did...the show would be better without it.

David10086 said: "So glad I read here about her performance, and was very encouraged by many here to see her as "Dolly". I have my $99 ticket for this Sunday matinee (front row mezz)."

Hi--I'm fairly new to this board, I also live out of town so I apologize for my ignorance. How do I get relative inexpensive tickets for Donna's performance? I am flying out there in November and would love to see her. Thank you!

Updated On: 9/15/17 at 09:09 PM

Yes, that's how I got my $99 mezz seat. They had a lot of great offers for the orchestra section as well, but i recall someone on the board recommending to me to take a mezz seat in the first few rows for this musical - from looking down you can really see the spectacular costumes from head to toe (and there are some beautiful hats to behold!) and the full effect of the dancing on stage.

So my advice - if the first four or five rows of the mezz are available, grab them!

But you do have the satisfaction to know that you paid $650 less than people seeing Bette regularly pay for those same seats and, for my two cents, you were getting a better performance from Murphy.

I have always felt that this show played best from the front mezzanine because of the big dance numbers (and you never have to worry about a head in front of you, which can really alter your enjoyment of a show with a lot of dancing). I have seen this production from the front mezzanine and this week from the sixth or seventh row of the orchestra. Since I did not have anyone tall in front of me, the orchestra seats were incredible for this show...plus I had the satisfaction of knowing I was saving about $400 compared to the Midler pricing, which I will also make clear that I would never have paid in a million years.

I just bought mezzanine row B tickets for a performance with Donna at the beginning of November. Thanks to CT2NYC and everyone else's tips. Looking forward to it! It's hard for me to get to NYC as I'm way out west, lol.

Guess I must be one of the five or so queens the poster here is referring to who posts all the time, so hear I go again!

I love Bette Midler in this role but let's face it no other Dolly, I bet, could get away with saying, "dumplings, lighter than air they are, well, I'll be the judge of that" and then tosses the dumpling into the orchestra pit! This isn't the line in the script and that isn't the stage direction for the dumpling! Also, the other day Bette went crazy with the salting of the beets and is now doing a long thing with David Hyde Pierce with "you hate the beets?, or you ate the beets?..." and him saying "yes, I ate the beets and now I hate the beets!", etc., with the two them trying to not laugh and suddenly it's the Carol Burnett show. Now, again, I love both of them and I laughed out loud but it's not Dolly and Horace having dinner at their table scene.

Donna Murphy does similar business but it's pulled back and it's still funny and, I think, truer to the musical play we're watching.

Now Midler fans come for that stuff and she delivers it and they lap it up as do I. Midler's eating scene in the court scene is hysterical and reminds me of Lucille Ball. Almost channeling Ball. And I love that too.

I guess I'm saying that I'm glad the show can play well with Murphy and that it goes to show that the musical is strong enough to play with most women who have played this part. And so it will with Bernadette Peters.

jewishboy said: "All I'll say is, Donna Murphy is my Carol Channing, not Bette Midler. And for me she has more star power on a broadway stage than almost anyone else. And I've seen some stars (though I have not seen Bette, but have also loved her on the small screen). Donna Murphy singing "Before the Parade Passes By" and eating dumplings? I could go back night after night."

Truth.