Hello, Dolly ! Question !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 8:42pm

Was the show short to anyone?

The reason I'm asking this question is because I'm doing the show now and it seem short.

Updated On: 4/19/05 at 08:42 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 10:24pm

How much cutting has been done? I suspect that the dance numbers have been shortened. In the original Gower Champion staging, these dancce sequences were absolutely brilliant, but on the amateur level, they seem daunting and are butchered by the choreographer and director. I was in one production of the show where the director wanted to cut the title number. He claimed it did nothing to move the plot. Ha! He missed thw whole point of the number--and maybe even the show. It was at that point that I left the cast.

[mirandajrs]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 10:30pm

He wanted to cut the title number!!? That's awful!

[Allie]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 10:30pm

Cu-cu-cut the title number? I feel faint. I did this show last year, and it didn't seem that short. I know we cut some dancing, and made the Waitor's Galop shorter (which was very sad).

Have fun with the show! I had a great time doing it!

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 12:23am

Oh.....I'm having a GREAT time doing it .......yeah we've cut some things down that some people might think is stupid....and I do too.

What was shortened:

"Hello, Dolly !" (Yep....I know....they took out "I've Been Away From the Lighs of 14th Street Part")

Now that we've been working on it now......The Harmonia Gardens Scene seems very long and I'm playing Cornelius and we sit there forever while Dolly and Vandergelder talk.

[wildcat]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 1:17am

Count your blessings. There was recently a production in Australia where the director put back most of the script of THE MATCHMAKER. It was the longest evening of everyone's life.

[joeybiltmore1]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 3:59pm

Hello, Dolly is a masterpiece of economy, and is one of the shortest of the classic musicals. It usually runs, with intermission, around two hours and twenty minutes, and I believe that's with no cuts. It's such a shame to cut any of the Waiter's Galop. If staged well, it can be a huge crowd pleaser AND advance the story (i.e. develop Rudolf as more than a Colonel Klink wannabe and let us get to know the waiters better so we can relate to Dolly's affection for them).

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 4:09pm

I don't see any need to cut this show down. Now My Fair Lady...I could cut that to about 4 minutes and still have had too much.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 6:44pm

Yes, this moron director wanted to cut the title song because he felt it didn't "move the plot". I tried to explain that it is actually the spine of the show. At the end of Act One, Dolly resolves to "re-join the human race" and when she walks down the staircase in that stunning red gown, she proves that she means it. When Gower Champion staged the number, he had Dolly pick up the train to her gown and wrap it around her arm as if she meant business. He also made sure that she had the handsomest waiters to flirt with while singing the tune.

Oh, how I wish I was seeing that show yet again!

[Roxie]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 9:05pm

This show may possibly be the longest one ever just becasue of the Harmonia Gardens scene. Well I may be exaggerating but I played Minnie in this show and sitting throuhg that scene and the rehearsals for that scene were dreadful

[lily_lucy]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 9:16pm

The length of this show would seem different to different cast members. I'm playing Irene Molloy in a production right now, and the Harmonia Gardens and the hatshop scene both seem heinously long. Hello Dolly seems to take forever to the six people who carry the show (Vandergelder, Dolly, Irene, Cornelius, Barnaby, Minnie), but to an ensemble member, it would seem quite short.
Just my opinion.

(And cut the title song? Eek!)

[sassypanz]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 10:05pm

DON`T CUT THE TITLE NUMBER!!!!!!

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 8:42am

Yes the Harmonia Gardens Scene seem soooooooooooooooo long Me, Barnaby, Irene and Minnie get so bored up there. I agree with the Hat Shop as well.

Has anyone done the show without and intermission? We are.