Posted: 1/14/17 at 8:31am
i know it's probably unlikely, but does anyone know if the songs added for Ethel Merman for Hello Dolly will be included in the new production? I think there were two of them. I have tickets for April, but don't know the score that well...yet! Does Dolly sing that much really? I only ask because if it was a big sing already, why would Merman want two more songs added? Just curious.
Posted: 1/14/17 at 10:13am
From what I read they orginally wanted her to be dolly so the songs were written not sure why she was not the orginal dolly but the songs were put in for her
Posted: 1/14/17 at 10:22am
She wasn't interested initially, but by the end of the run, she was, so she became the final replacement Dolly instead, at which point they re-added two songs they'd written specifically for her voice when they were seeking her and cut when her voice was no longer available.
Updated On: 1/14/17 at 10:22 AM
Posted: 1/14/17 at 11:16am
Kate Baldwin actually revealed in a recent interview that there might be a couple songs from the film version that will be in the revival @12:16...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b25U2hvG52w
Posted: 1/14/17 at 11:24am
I'm especially curious as to whether they'll use the opening number from the film instead of the opening number from the musical? "Just Leave Everything to Me" shows off more range/is less of an ensemble number than "I Put My Hand In."
Posted: 1/14/17 at 11:34am
I hope not!!!! It's an awful song! It works for Streisand, because it was written for her and I put my hand in there was too slow for the movie...but it s too frantic for the stage, and Bette, as marvelous as she is, don't have Streisand's range
Posted: 1/14/17 at 11:36am
Though a problem I had with the song Love is Only Love is that it sounded like it belonged more to Fanny Brice than Dolly Levi.
Posted: 1/14/17 at 11:42am
I think "Just Leave Everything to Me" is a better fit with the Divine M's personality though. If they were to use it for the stage, it wouldn't necessarily have the same orchestration or tempo or even key as the film version. The only other new song for the film was "Love is only Love" which is lovely, though a bit generic (it was written for Mame and cut on the road). But it makes sense that they might like to give Midler something 'more' to sing - given that most of the women who did it originally on stage weren't exactly known for their singing voices.
Ethel Merman turned down Dolly initially, apparently without even hearing the score. She repeated the story many times that after having spent decades 'married' to the rigors of the theatre, she wanted a break and wanted her life back (ironic given thats kind of what the musical is about).
After the show was such a hit, she was talked into coming in as the 'final' Dolly on Broadway and as Herman tells the story, they added "Love Look in my Window" and "World Take Me Back" even though both songs were actually early versions at musicalizing the moment that eventually became "Before the Parade Passes By" and were repetitive (x3). But when he played them for Merman and asked which she'd like to do - she said - 'I'll sing 'em all!"
Updated On: 1/14/17 at 11:42 AM
Posted: 1/14/17 at 12:04pm
I Put My Hand In is the perfect opening, leave it alone. Add the Merman songs, we don't need the film changes.
Posted: 1/14/17 at 12:27pm
Jerry Herman could you know just write her something new.
Posted: 1/14/17 at 12:34pm
Screw it, add all four of 'em -- Merman, Streisand, who gives a damn, it's the Bette Midler Show.
Posted: 1/14/17 at 12:54pm
Well that does sort of bring up part of the issue-- Dolly, despite being the title character is off stage a lot in the musical. I can certainly imagine the producers wanting to give Bette Midler more to sing as she is what most ticket buyers are paying (a lot of money) for.
Posted: 1/15/17 at 4:54am
I love "Just Leave Everything to Me." I think it's a better introduction to the character than "I Put My Hand In" which is of course also a good song.
As for the Merman songs, "Love Look in My Window" is meh IMO though I adore "World Take Me Back." There is the issue though (much like in the stage version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) that it essentially serves the same purpose as "Before The Parade Passes By" and perhaps does an inferior job.
Posted: 1/15/17 at 7:37am
When Klea Blackhurst was rehearsing Dolly at Goodspeed, she told me she opted out of the Merman songs . Why? She said they were written specifically for Merman and her vocal skills. Also, they gave her that much more stage time and the production was scheduled to do 9 performances a week and she felt she had to conserve her energy in any way she could. Bette is shying away from a full 8 performance schedule, do you think she wants to add 2 more songs to the show?
Updated On: 1/15/17 at 07:37 AM
Posted: 1/15/17 at 7:52am
i prefer Just Leave Everything to Me to I Put My Hand In. I just think it's a better song for the opening, full of zest and pep.
World Take Me Back is also a good song but i agree with Nowack that it basically says the same thing as Before the Parade Passes By.
i doubt they'll add either of the Merman songs but could see them adding the Streisand.
Posted: 1/15/17 at 12:59pm
gypsy101 said: "i doubt they'll add either of the Merman songs but could see them adding the Streisand."
It's not as though it's hard to add all four.
1. Replace "I Put My Hand In" with "Just Leave Everything To Me." (And, like the movie, the music of the former can still appear elsewhere in the score so it's not like the song totally disappeared.)
2. Insert "Love, Look In My Window" where Ethel did it.
3. Insert "Love Is Only Love" after "Elegance."
4. Insert "World, Take Me Back" after Dolly's "Money, money, money, money, money" speech where everybody goes to the safe to get their cash. (One more big song to send her out on before the finale.)
Posted: 1/15/17 at 1:09pm
...and make the show 20 minutes longer.
Posted: 1/15/17 at 1:14pm
We paid top dollar to see Bette Midler. How about we actually see Bette Midler?
Posted: 1/15/17 at 1:15pm
Dollypop, would you replace "I Put My Hand In?" I love that song. I'm shocked so many want it replaced with "Just Leave Everything Me."
Posted: 1/15/17 at 6:45pm
No. "I Put My Hand In" not only establishes Dolly's character but the time and setting of the piece.. It has a nice turn of the century feel to it. Gower's genius is that he set the tone, time and setting in the opening number--even the horse winking at the audience tells the crowd what to expect.
"Just Leave Everything To Me" establishes Dolly's meddlesome character but features vocalizing that is far too contemporary for its setting. I feel the same way about the last moments of the parade. There's some thrilling vocalizing but it's not fitting for a woman "of a certain age" in the 1890's
The film's a mess.
Updated On: 1/15/17 at 06:45 PM
Posted: 1/15/17 at 6:51pm
Okay, leave out the movie material, and reduce it to the Merman songs as I described above ("Love, Look In My Window" where Ethel had it, and "World, Take Me Back" after Dolly's "Money, money, money, money, money" speech where everybody goes to the safe to get their cash). Objectively, would it hurt to give Bette the two additional numbers as a showcase?
Updated On: 1/15/17 at 06:51 PM
Posted: 1/15/17 at 6:57pm
I like the Merman numbers and wouldn't' mind if they were interpolated into this production.
You know "Motherhood" might get cut from this version. Gower loved the song but all the characters wind up in the same exact spots that they started from and it does nothing to advance the plot.
( Pssst....Jerry wrote very little of this song and hates it!)
Posted: 1/15/17 at 7:00pm
"Objectively, would it hurt to give Bette the two additional numbers as a showcase?"
But HELLO DOLLY isn't a Bette Midler solo show at Madison Square Garden, it's a play for crying out loud. Why on earth would you repeat the exact same thought in 3 different songs (including "Before the Parade Passes By"
just because Bette is able to sing them.
And no, I can't defend the creators' choice to do exactly that back in 1969 when Merman came into the show. It was stupid then, it's stupid now, and frankly for me those 2 songs are among the lamest in Jerry Herman's whole catalogue.
Updated On: 1/15/17 at 07:00 PM
Posted: 1/15/17 at 7:12pm
Dollypop said: "You know "Motherhood" might get cut from this version. Gower loved the song but all the characters wind up in the same exact spots that they started from and it does nothing to advance the plot."
it's a cute song but i've always thought that it is pointless. it's fun for some stage business (it i remember correctly it's supposed to serve as a distraction from Cornelius and Barnaby) but not much else
