Joy Behar was asked to take "Hello, Dolly" on tour

Just now on THE VIEW, Joy Behar revealed that her agents had inquired if she would be interested in taking "Hello, Dolly" on the road, but turned it down because "even though [she] bears a resemblance to Bette Midler, she doesn't sing or dance".

While I agree with Joy's self-assessment (even though she would NAIL the comedy), does this officially mean that a tour of this production is in the works?

quizking101 said: "Just now on THE VIEW, Joy Behar revealed that her agents had inquired if she would be interested in taking "Hello, Dolly" on the road, but turned it down because "even though [she] bears a resemblance to Bette Midler, she doesn't sing or dance".

While I agree with Joy's self-assessment (even though she would NAIL the comedy), does this officially mean that a tour of this production is in the works?



Last year, Sally Strutters was touring in a bus & truck Hello Dolly. She is a 'name' on the road, in which virtually no shows ever advertise the leads, because no one has ever heard of most of them. Maybe they are talking about Behar doing something like that? Half serious.

Actually though, I now live near Tampa 7 months of the year and generally see 3 or so productions a year at the Straz. I don't think a 'name' has appeared in one of these, although there has been lots of very talented performers, some better than the role originators.

If ever there was a show that benefits from a name in the lead, it is Hello Dolly (or Mame), both of which benefit from a big personality front and center. I think 'big personalities' are most effective / accepted if the audience is familiar with them going into the show. In that respect, Behar would be a good choice. She would have audience good-will.

She probably thought to herself, 'at my age, why would I want to commit myself to touring the hinterlands for a year out my life, let alone run the risk of being bad'? Katharine Hepburn did a damned good job with the Coco songs IMO; but, then there is Pierce Brosnan. I was almost surprised that he didnt retire from show business after singing about a song and a quarter in Mamma Mia.

In terms of TV personalities turned musical stars, I met Paige Davis recently through my work on this very site, and she may be one of the nicest and most genuine people I've ever met.

Jarethan said: "She probably thought to herself, 'at my age, why would I want to commit myself to touring the hinterlands for a year out my life, let alone run the risk of being bad'? Katharine Hepburn did a damned good job with the Coco songs IMO; but, then there is Pierce Brosnan. I was almost surprised that he didn't retire from show business after singing about a song and a quarter in Mamma Mia."

Brosnan should probably feel lucky that his laughable singing in Mamma Mia! didn't lead to career suicide like Lucille Ball in Mame.

I think we are missing the point....does this mean that WHOOPI was offered to replace Bette on Broadway?!?!?!?!

I know she hasn't been mentioned in any of the threads, but Whoopi knows how to keep an audience in the palm of her hand, which is key to any great Dolly. My only concern would be her voice as it isn't anywhere near the shape/quality it was during the Sister Act years.

This is incorrect. Oak is going to tour as Dolly with Mandy Patinkin as Horace.

Joy may have some name recognition, but in the theater??? Dolly needs a big name to sell it on the road (a reason to see this old warhorse again).

Looks like my idea wasn't too far off! Haha

Cora Hoover Hooper said: "Joy may have some name recognition, but in the theater??? Dolly needs a big name to sell it on the road (a reason to see this old warhorse again).



I wouldn't think of Dolly as a warhorse in all honesty. Shows like Oklahoma or Carousel are warhorses, but Dolly has huge audiences even on Donna days. I couldn't think of any reason to sit through those two aforementioned shows without a star, but with Dolly, I'd gladly see it with a low-tier actress even.

This reminds me of talkshow host Kathie Lee Gifford back in the mid-1990s:

Allegedly, when she was the ratings queen with Regis Philbin back then (Live With Regis & Kathie Lee was the #1 daytime show) Andrew Lloyd Webber offered her the role of 'Norma Desmond' for the first year of the US tour of 'Sunset Boulevard' back in 1996. (Clever move by ALW, knowing she came with a built-in fanbase/audience around the country). However, she was in the middle of her multi-year contract with the show/Disney/ABC, and they would not let her take the extended time off. They threatened her with a massive 'breach of contract' lawsuit if she dared leave the show. She stayed put.

There was a lot of gossip about this in New York (my friend 'the vocal coach' was privy to a lot of this info at the time, working with different shows, and used to fill me in ; and it was well-known that KLG was NOT happy being denied this opportunity. .

In 1999-2000, she was cast an 'alternate' in the Broadway revue 'Side by Side'; yet ABC/Disney would not allow her to take the following morning off from the show when she performed the night before...even though it was just sporadically, although there was a time when she filled in for Carol Burnett over an extended period (I think Burnett was ill). During her 'live chat' with cohost Philbin in the beginning of the shows, she would make subtle comments about how exhausted she was on those mornings. She didn't hide her disappointment.

Once she left, when interviewed about her decision to leave the #1 talk show, she indicated that a major reason was because she was denied the opportunity to star in a 'major Broadway tour' because of her contract with Disney/ABC a few years prior, and the network was not accommodating to her schedule with "Side by Side" towards the end of her contract. (I guess she still held a grudge years later - as she passed on friend Barbara Walters and ABC's offer to join 'The View' and instead went with NBC's 'Today' show with Hoda Kotb.)

bdn223 said: "I think we are missing the point....does this mean that WHOOPI was offered to replace Bette on Broadway?!?!?!?!

I know she hasn't been mentioned in any of the threads, but Whoopi knows how to keep an audience in the palm of her hand, which is key to any great Dolly. My only concern would be her voice as it isn't anywhere near the shape/quality it was during the Sister Act years.



But, remember, neither is Bette's. When I saw her, her singing was very low energy. What made her performance so good -- and I do think she was not nearly as good as Channing or Bailey -- was he comedic skills and warmth as a performer. The audience loved Bette and loved Dolly the second she came out behind that newspaper.

Faith Prince

Patti LuPone FANatic said: "Katharine Hepburn was a wonderful actress. But I've heard a bit of her "singing". In no way, shape or form did it resemble actual singing. It was just spoken words with musical accompaniment. Sheer torture.



I saw Coco 3 times in its original run, and played the OBC album constantly when it came out. Much of the music is excellent, the lyrics were Alan J Lerner terrific, and Hepburn did very well playing a character. No-one expected her to sing well, they wanted her to stay on key and not be flat; and she stayed on key. And she sang every bit as well as Carol Channing did. I didn't care if it was a combination of talking and singing.

My only point was that, if that was the only issue keeping her from doing it -- and I would probably have to see her when she hit Tampa -- I would tell her that Dolly's songs are not exactly hard and that she should see a voice coach to determine i. The main requirements are to breathe, remember the lyrics, and stay on key. That was true of Channing, Rogers (who actually had a pretty limited singing voice and sang off-key very noticeably several times when I saw her Dolly), and every other essentially non-singer who has played Dolly over the years.