Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London- Page 2
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#25
Posted: 11/21/19 at 8:48pmHmm... this could possibly be where I celebrate seeing the show for the 100th time.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#26
Posted: 11/21/19 at 9:26pmCurious as to why it’s not the Rudin production...
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#27
Posted: 11/21/19 at 9:30pm
Oh dear gawd! What's next?
Imelda as Nellie Forbush?
Imelda as Maria?
Imelda as Squidward?
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#28
Posted: 11/21/19 at 9:31pmGuess Bette didn’t wanna take it to London?
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#29
Posted: 11/21/19 at 9:43pm
MarkBearSF said: "Oh dear gawd! What's next?
Imelda as Nellie Forbush?
Imelda as Maria?
Imelda as Squidward?"
Please don't put these ideas in her head. Although, Squidward could work.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#30
Posted: 11/21/19 at 11:47pm
Well, of all the productions of Hello, Dolly! that have been put on, this will certainly be one of them.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#31
Posted: 11/22/19 at 3:53am
CATSNYrevival said: "The absence of an exclamation point is telling."
The exclamation point is there in the art work
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#32
Posted: 11/22/19 at 6:32am
Let's hope she doesn't scare Ephram off like she did with me with her "Losing My Mind"...
Unless he'll be happy to give her away.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#33
Posted: 11/22/19 at 6:36amI think this is great casting personally and I don’t get the negativity about Imelda. Not only is she a great actress she’s also got great comedy chops. I think she’ll be fab
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#34
Posted: 11/22/19 at 6:43amWestEndGal said: "I think this is great casting personally and I don’t get the negativity about Imelda. Not only is she a great actress she’s also got great comedy chops. I think she’ll be fab"
Exactly. Folks over on the UK site while disappointed to not get the Rudin production are generally thrilled with this casting.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#35
Posted: 11/22/19 at 7:27amOf course they would be but they have pretty slim pickings in terms of talent there compared to the USA.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#36
Posted: 11/22/19 at 10:54am
Jordan Catalano said: "What an absolutely insane choice of casting. I’ll be in town for “Sister Act” so I’m 100% going to see this but this will no doubt be the most intense Dolly Levi we’ll ever see. I can’t imagine who they’ll cast as Horace next to her."
Maybe they can get Jim Carter to do it!
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#37
Posted: 11/22/19 at 11:04am
qolbinau said: "Of course they would be but they have pretty slim pickings in terms of talent there compared to the USA."
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#38
Posted: 11/22/19 at 11:16am
little_sally said: "Maybe they can get Jim Carter to do it!"
Oh man, now THAT would be exciting casting.
Understudy Joined: 12/12/11
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#39
Posted: 11/22/19 at 12:30pm
I just have this image of her looking skyward and screaming Ephraim? LET ME GOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#40
Posted: 11/22/19 at 12:32pmMaybe Ephraim faked his death to get away from her.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#41
Posted: 11/22/19 at 12:48pmI think this sounds exciting. I love Russell.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#42
Posted: 11/22/19 at 12:55pm
ActorGuyIL said: "I just have this image of her looking skyward and screaming Ephraim? LET ME GOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
Ephram, one must not tell lies *giggles*. Now - you go your way AND I WILL GO MINE YOU ASSHAT.
PS - I'm very excited about this casting. I think she is a great actress, would love to see her do musical comedy and Hello, Dolly! is the best there is.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#43
Posted: 11/22/19 at 1:34pm
Mike Barrett said: "I’m frankly too much of a Potter nut to like her and root for her so I simply cannot imagine her as Dolly Levi.
That being said, I had no idea she was in musician theatre. I wish them the best. Not a Rudin production I assume? "
She’s been in Follies, Gypsy, and Sweeney Todd just in the last few years
And she won the Olivier Award for Into the Woods in 1991 (as Baker's Wife).
I think this is great casting personally and I don’t get the negativity about Imelda. Not only is she a great actress she’s also got great comedy chops. I think she’ll be fab
Agreed. Just because she's been cast in more emotionally intense roles doesn't mean that's all she's capable of doing.
Oh dear gawd! What's next?
Imelda as Nellie Forbush?
Imelda as Maria?
Imelda as Squidward?
Yes, because that would be the logical procession regarding any actress in their 60s who has played two or more of the following roles: Adelaide (Guys and Dolls 1983 & 1996), Dorothy (Wizard of Oz 1987), Baker's Wife (Into the Woods 1990), Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd 2012), Rose (Gypsy 2015), Sally (Follies 2017). While you're at it, why would think she would accept Squidward over Spongebob, anyway?
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#44
Posted: 11/22/19 at 3:11pm
I'd rather see Catherine Tate plays Dolly.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#45
Posted: 11/22/19 at 3:41pm
^Or Dawn French.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#46
Posted: 11/22/19 at 3:45pm
qolbinau said: "Of course they would be but they have pretty slim pickings in terms of talent there compared to the USA."
*rolleyes* It’s so tiring with the jibes about the West End talent. I’m back in London now but lived in NYC for years, and have seen plenty of shows on both sides of the pond, and the talent in the West End is generally superb.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#47
Posted: 11/22/19 at 5:41pm
qolbinau said: "Of course they would be but they have pretty slim pickings in terms of talent there compared to the USA."
*rolleyes* It’s so tiring with the jibes about the West End talent. I’m back in London now but lived in NYC for years, and have seen plenty of shows on both sides of the pond, and the talent in the West End is generally superb.
I've seen TONS of West End musicals with talent comparable to Broadway. Better in some cases, actually.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#48
Posted: 11/22/19 at 8:21pm
I live in London. I’ve been to NYC loads of times. Of course Broadway historically and currently is much much better for musicals. I don’t find it tiring I just think we need to speak the truth. I think it’s because musicals are traditionally an American art form and the talent pool is much larger - it’s almost an unfair comparison. If we compared Europe overall to USA overall it would be a fairer comparison. Otherwise it’s like comparing a state to a massive continent.
Staunton is not Channing, Bette Midler, Bernadette or Donna Murphy. Jenna Russell is not Kelli (Bridges) or Ebersole (Grey Gardens. But there honestly isn’t many alternatives.
The USA is bad at some things and good at other things. And musicals are one thing they are consistently good at.
Imelda Staunton & Jenna Russell to lead HELLO DOLLY in London#49
Posted: 11/22/19 at 9:30pm
I think at times we definitely have different standards in the states. Elena Roger in Evita was almost universally hated here, and she didn’t receive a Tony nomination. I don’t think Staunton’s Rose would’ve appealed to American audiences, the filmed production gets a lot of negativity.
I think scenarios like this probably played a factor in Rosalie Craig not transferring with Company.
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