Hello, Dolly! at Buffalo's Sheas

[BwayH,D!]

Posted: 2/4/20 at 11:07am

I have multiple nights of front row tickets to Carolee Carmello in Hello, Dolly! at Buffalo's Shea's Performing Arts Center. If anyone is familiar with that theatre, they should know that for some musicals, there is a "directors circle" down front, in-front of the front orchestra. And if anyone is familiar with Hello, Dolly! they know that there is a jut out in-front of the stage where a lot of dancing/staging occurs. In-between the jut out and the stage is where the music conductor conducts the orchestra and the performers onstage. My ultimate question is, do you think the "directors circle" will be seating people with that sets jut out? I have not been to Shea's all so often, and all the musicals I have gone to have sold directors circle seats. I am assuming no directors circle seats are being sold for Hello, Dolly!, but I want to be as close to the action as possible so I am hoping that the jut out will be there, since I have front row seats for multiple nights.

[Ceej]

Posted: 2/4/20 at 12:23pm

The show was just here in Houston. The passerelle isn't a true one, but rather a small extension of the stage itself. It does not encircle the conductor, or at least it didn't here. I suspect it's the same across the entire tour. So whatever seat is usually the front row should be the actual front.

[amaklo]

Posted: 2/4/20 at 1:06pm

I don't know for sure, but if you look at the Ticketmaster seating plan for Sheas Hello Dolly, it looks like there may be a "real" passerelle.

https://www1.ticketmaster.com/hello-dolly-touring/event/0000577AA36F3C38

I'm toying with the idea of driving up to Buffalo for a weekend matinee as I'd love to see Carolee Carmello as Dolly.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 2/4/20 at 2:12pm

That seating chart does not indicate a thing.

The national tour of HELLO, DOLLY does not tour with a passarelle. Never has.

The show deck for the tour includes a false passarelle - it's just a blacked out area of show deck and rests entirely on the host venue's stage. The host venue's orchestra pit still fully separates the stage from the house.

The link enclosed is a screengrab of the tour B-roll where it is plainly visible.

https://img.youtube.com/vi/eRwdnxkhl2c/0.jpg

[NoName3]

Posted: 2/4/20 at 6:32pm

That's terrible. The first time I saw Dolly was a small bus and truck tour with Yvonne De Carlo, a one night stand in my high school auditorium, and they managed a real passerelle.

De Carlo, btw, was wonderful. Still one of the very best Dollys I've ever seen and I've seen many, many over the years since, including Channing six times. De Carlo played Dolly GALLAGHER Levi with a delightful Irish brogue and I still resent Tovah Feldshuh claiming she was the first to do that when she played the part at Paper Mill decades later. Feldshuh, for the record, was lackluster in the role.

Updated On: 2/4/20 at 06:32 PM