HELLO, DONNA! - Murphy begins performances — Page 19

According to twitter she got a standing ovation on her entrance with the newspaper.

It was an outstanding performance tonight. Truly electric.

Unfortunately the flu and colds have struck the cast. There weren't enough swings to cover. As a result, "Sunday Clothes" was a bit sparse, as was the parade .About 4 male ensemble members took their bows by themselves.

Updated On: 1/7/18 at 11:10 PM

Saw Donna Murphy tonight.

Really wanted to like her. No cigar. Tied Tovah Feldshuh in the "Scrappy Dolly Gallagher" department. She was all tics and extraneous moves with not much comedic flair or star quality. A star is a star is a star. Murphy, though competent, just isn't a star. And a Dolly without a star is a chore to watch.



Pierce really holds the production up. Creel, Trensch, Baldwin and Feldstein were all rushing through things and acted like they couldn't wait for the curtain to go down. Sad.



Where's Channing and Champion when you want them.

I thought Hello Bette! was great when I saw it last April, but tonight's Hello Dolly! with Donna Murphy was simply magical. I didn't realize how many opportunities to make more interesting acting choices Bette missed until Donna amazed me with a much more Dolly Dolly. Bette plays Bette, and she is wonderful. However, it does take someone of Donna's caliber to play a Dolly like Dolly.

bk said: "So in other words, it was a show about the audience, because any audience that stands on Dolly's entrance, and during or after Parade, and during the title song are just sickening, IMO. I understand everyone watches these stupid America's Got Talent and The Voice shows, where the audience there is instructed, INSTRUCTED, to stand in the middle of things, but in the theater it is just lame and embarrassing - have some decorum, let the show be the show, and stand, if you must, at the end."

Holy s--t. This isn't Angels in America. This is a s musical that deliberately breaks the 4th wall. And Parade is the Act 1 finale shpwstopperr so standing after is entirely appropriate.

yeah, a few of her family members were sitting a few rows in front of me. One lady was very emotional throughout the show. Such a memorable night of theater.

bk said: "So in other words, it was a show about the audience, because any audience that stands on Dolly's entrance, and during or after Parade, and during the title song are just sickening, IMO. I understand everyone watches these stupid America's Got Talent and The Voice shows, where the audience there is instructed, INSTRUCTED, to stand in the middle of things, but in the theater it is just lame and embarrassing - have some decorum, let the show be the show, and stand, if you must, at the end."

this may be totally understandable for a regular performance but this was her FINAL performance. I have only stood once during a performance (and that was after Patti LuPone's With One Look in London in the 94?) and most of the theatre did also but I don't usually give a standing O for a regular performance because it has gotten out of hand but this seems totally acceptable. An opening or closing night is always different than a regular performance for obvious reasons.

Looks like a fan made Donna her own Hello Dolly handbag.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdtbRywl7G3/?taken-by=officialdonnamurphy

A sweet gift.

poisonivy2 said: "bk said: "So in other words, it was a show about the audience, because any audience that stands on Dolly's entrance, and during or after Parade, and during the title song are just sickening, IMO. I understand everyone watches these stupid America's Got Talent and The Voice shows, where the audience there is instructed, INSTRUCTED, to stand in the middle of things, but in the theater it is just lame and embarrassing - have some decorum, let the show be the show, and stand, if you must, at the end."

Holy s--t. This isn't Angels in America. This is a s musical that deliberately breaks the 4th wall. And Parade is the Act 1 finale shpwstopperr so standing after is entirely appropriate."

You know, I've seen Hello, Dolly! about forty times, starting with Channing, Rogers, Bailey, Diller, Dorothy Lamour and many others, and I recorded the revival in the 90s - and I am here to tell you that no one, not ONE PERSON, including the ubiquitous Charles Lowe, has EVER stood before, during or after Before the Parade Passes By. EVER. And they don't stand for it with Midler, so as I said this was a show about the audience. Ms. Murphy, who I like, had her friends and family there - great. But this had nothing to do with Hello, Dolly and everything to do with it being Ms. Murphy's final show - she could have been out there singing songs from Whoop-Up and they would have stood after Glenda's Place, and Nobody Throw Those Bull.