Posted: 7/19/17 at 8:34pm
BO has to be primed for a situation like this. When you have a star of this magnitude in a show and she's out and you have paid hiked up regular prices or, most probably, Premium/StubHub prices, what do they expect of an audience? I think Scott Rudin should have helped out today in the BO.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 8:35pm
"Seriously. Extortion and greed on behalf of the producers. . I adore Bette. I have now seen her in the show a few times and going a few times more. But I am lucky in life that I can treat myself to such luxuries. Not everyone can. And for those of you who can't... I tell you... DONNA MURPHY IS FABULOUS. If you love Bette then treat yourself. You will love her in it and years from now you will remember you got to see Bette. If it is too expensive for you or your not that hardcore of a fan then go see Donna.
Extortion is defined as the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
Greedy? Perhaps.
Extortion? Not even close.
"
Posted: 7/19/17 at 8:41pm
JustAnotherNewYorker said: "This is why I bought tickets for January 14th. If there's one day Bette's not going to miss, it's the last one
Tell the to Idina Menzel's Wicked fans!!
Posted: 7/19/17 at 8:43pm
JBC3 said: ""Seriously. Extortion and greed on behalf of the producers. . I adore Bette. I have now seen her in the show a few times and going a few times more. But I am lucky in life that I can treat myself to such luxuries. Not everyone can. And for those of you who can't... I tell you... DONNA MURPHY IS FABULOUS. If you love Bette then treat yourself. You will love her in it and years from now you will remember you got to see Bette. If it is too expensive for you or your not that hardcore of a fan then go see Donna.
Extortion is defined as the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
Greedy? Perhaps.
Extortion? Not even close.
"
"
JBC3 you are correct. Wrong word.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 8:46pm
Anyone know why Bette was out this afternoon?
Posted: 7/19/17 at 9:12pm
Anyone know why Bette was out this afternoon?
She was seen having lunch with Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn at The Plaza then on the 3rd floor of Bergdorf's with 3 large shopping bags.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 9:18pm
EthelMae said: "BO has to be primed for a situation like this. When you have a star of this magnitude in a show and she's out and you have paid hiked up regular prices or, most probably, Premium/StubHub prices, what do they expect of an audience? I think Scott Rudin should have helped out today in the BO.
"
They probably were primed EthelMae. Still no word on how they handled it.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 9:54pm
I've never failed to stay for a standby, with one exception: when Liza was out in "Victor/Victoria." Maybe something worth resurrecting, that era, which is not recent, but a mega-star with a mega-star following. NO ONE wanted to stay. Liza had great difficulty, apparently, with "V/V" over her run, and swore off books shows on B'way after that. I do recall the chaos at the B.O. It took me close to two hours to get the hell outta there. Today was a trigger. PS: I went back, 2nd acted Raquel. Ugh, the less said the better. (But then, I'd seen Andrews.)
Posted: 7/19/17 at 10:01pm
I've never failed to stay for a standby, with one exception:
Linda Mugleston isn't Bette's standby, she's her understudy and is a regular ensemble member of the cast. A standby doesn't have a role in a show - they're basically standing by and on-call in the event they are needed. They generally don't even have to be in the theatre but on-call during each performance in the event they are needed and they need to rush to the theatre ASAP.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 10:24pm
BrodyFosse123 said: "8:05pm on stage behind the red curtain at the Shubert Theatre in New York City. Bette Midler and the ensemble is getting into their places for the opening Act 1 number as the HELLO, DOLLY! Overture plays to sporadic moments of applause from the excited audience.
Bette Midler (approaching Linda Mugleston standing stage right): How'd this afternoon go?
Linda Mugleston: Girl, don't ask. Never again.
"
Do we even know Bette even talks to her cast members?
Posted: 7/19/17 at 10:34pm
Call_me_jorge said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "8:05pm on stage behind the red curtain at the Shubert Theatre in New York City. Bette Midler and the ensemble is getting into their places for the opening Act 1 number as the HELLO, DOLLY! Overture plays to sporadic moments of applause from the excited audience.
Bette Midler (approaching Linda Mugleston standing stage right): How'd this afternoon go?
Linda Mugleston: Girl, don't ask. Never again.
"
Do we even know Bette even talks to her cast members?
"
She has always been very chummy with her backup singers and band mates on her tour. I can't imagine she is any different now.
Posted: 7/19/17 at 10:56pm
You also have to realize those backstages are TINY. Granted, I don't think she's going up to the to 4th floor to chat with the ensemble, but I can't imagine she's not at least friendly with people.
I'm seeing her next Wednesday matinee....bitch better be on!!!!!!
Posted: 7/19/17 at 11:19pm
Linda and Donna know the score. And they knew the deal when they signed on. They knew what this particular casting of a movie star/concert icon was going to entail. They're Broadway vets.
And I'm sure the supporting cast knew as well. A good percentage of that audience isn't there to see Hello Dolly, they're there to see Bette Midler in a Dolly dress. And they're certainly not there to see Gavin, Kate, or even David. A lot of us are, but certainly a good percentage isn't....and probably don't even know who they are.
When Bette is not there, the theater is emptier. Tickets are easier to get. No reason for Donna or Linda to take it personally. And they don't. Again, they know the score when this type of casting occurs. And it's about the person, not the show. Gavin, Kate, David, Donna (or Linda) are all looking at the same empty seats when the Divine Miss M isn't there. Actually though they should be honored on those nights. Because those who are seeing it on those nights ARE there to see them. Not Bette. They get it.
The fact that the theater is emptier when BM isn't there though just shows that no casting (other than that of a movie star) was going to ensure success of Hello Dolly at this time, even if it is a Broadway classic.
Posted: 7/20/17 at 12:00am
I don't think that's necessarily true. The problem was this revival was toted as "Bette Midler in Hello Dolly" since the beginning. I think if Donna Murphy had started with the show and it was "Donna Murphy in Hello Dolly" and she went on to win the Tony, I think it would still be a hot ticket. Would it make as much as Midler? Probably not, no. But again, we'll never know.
Posted: 7/20/17 at 6:52am
Did Linda Mugleston make an appearance at the stage door? I'm curious about the reception she had, if she did.
Posted: 7/20/17 at 7:29am
I'm sure that anybody who actually cared to stage door was probably supportive. It would really be taking it far to be rude when someone who just gave a tiring performance comes out to be nice and sign and stuff. Probably was a small crowd anyways haha.
Posted: 7/20/17 at 8:29am
Just checked and there are quite a few tickets left of Bette's last performance for 1/14/18 if she doesn't resign. Any thoughts on her resigning? I was tempted to by a pair.
Updated On: 7/20/17 at 08:29 AM
Posted: 7/20/17 at 8:36am
Wednesday July 19, 2017 - 2pm matinee performance: 
Posted: 7/20/17 at 8:42am
Thanks for posting that!!
Posted: 7/20/17 at 9:06am
If I had a ticket to yesterday's matinee, I'd want to stay, but I'd also want a partial refund to reflect the going rate for a non-Bette performance. Is there a mechanism in place for that? I suppose you could ask for a refund and then buy a discounted ticket, but I suspect it would have been difficult to get that done before the performance started.
Posted: 7/20/17 at 9:22am
Actually there's quite a number of non-premium tickets in December too and those are Bette days not Donna days. Hmm.
Posted: 7/20/17 at 9:29am
JustAnotherNewYorker said: "This is why I bought tickets for January 14th. If there's one day Bette's not going to miss, it's the last one
"
Has it been announced that's her last day?? I thought I heard sometime in December before the holidays.. I could be totally wrong however so I'm not trying to worry you but I just wonder where you got your info?
Posted: 7/20/17 at 9:51am
Linda has made a career of covering the leads in various shows she has been in. I'm sure she was very prepared, but I could not imagine the nerves associated with performing yesterday. I'd like to know how she did.
Posted: 7/20/17 at 10:35am
KathyNYC2 said: "JustAnotherNewYorker said: "This is why I bought tickets for January 14th. If there's one day Bette's not going to miss, it's the last one
"
Has it been announced that's her last day?? I thought I heard sometime in December before the holidays.. I could be totally wrong however so I'm not trying to worry you but I just wonder where you got your info?
"
January 14th is the last day of the current block of tickets.
Updated On: 7/20/17 at 10:35 AM
Posted: 7/20/17 at 10:50am
This just found on TalkinBroadway:
A friend of mine who often ushers at DOLLY said only about 600 people stayed for the performance after Bette was announced as "out." They also said at 2:45 (45 mins after curtain), there were still about 200 people waiting at the box office for their refunds/ exhanges. I almost hustled down to the Shubert when I heard to try to snag a fun ticket.
Not of the accuracy of this (so take it with a grain of salt), but my friend also said that Linda hadn't had a full put-in rehearsal before today. If that's true, her first time doing the complete show, with all tech elements, was at today's matinee.
Also, there has not been an official date for Bette Midler's final performance in HELLO, DOLLY! As mentioned, it could happen in December or whenever. As mentioned above, January 14, 2018 was the last performance date of the first block of tickets when they originally went on sale. Not once was it stated or implied that was Bette's final performance. Anyone who assumed this when they purchased tickets for that date has no grounds for misrepresentation as again... no final performance date for Bette has ever been announced.
