The local production currently onstage at The Legacy Theatre lives up to the reputation of those impressive accolades and more. Awash in nostalgia and brimming with lights, color and likable characters, Hello Dolly! is a joyful walk down the lane of hummable songs, old-fashioned romance, plenty of laughs and a healthy dose of heartfelt tenderness. Read MORE

Hello, Dolly! stormed Broadway not long ago, with Bette Midler scooping up a 2017 Tony as the ever-endearing Dolly Gallagher Levi. Here Jerry Herman’s beloved 1964 musical is again, in a new English production directed by Dominic Cooke and choreographed by Bill Deamer—the team behind the National’s superlative revival of Follies, also in 2017. The irrepressible Dolly is being played by Follies alumna, Imelda Staunton, who has a hefty track record with American shows, and the West End’s recent Tevye, Andy Nyman, is on hand to play the crusty widower Horace Vandergelder. Jenna Russell and Tyrone Huntley complete a starry quartet of leads who will open July 18 at the Palladium, performing through September 6.

“You cannot define what Imelda is, other than one of the best actresses in the world,” Nyman told Broadway.com of Britain’s newly anointed Dame, sounding equally enthused about the show’s 40-strong cast and 21-piece orchestra. “This entire production has just been a ball of kindness from the second it started, and that’s what the show will be. It’s going to be a production people talk about for a long time.” See MORE

Further stage names are set to join Caroline O’Connor for a new Parisian revival of Hello, Dolly!

Directed by Stephen Mear, the show will open at Lido 2 Paris in the French capital on 7 November, and will play through to early January. The piece will be presented in English with French surtitles, as was the case with previous productions at the venue. Read MORE

 

 

(Tony nominee Jodi Benson, who famously voiced the role of Ariel in the animated Disney film The Little Mermaid, stars in the Encore Performing Arts production of Jerry Herman‘s Hello, Dolly!, which began performances June 21 in Florida. See photos from the production in the gallery HERE.

I join David Armstrong to talk about Still Going Strong—A Celebration of 60 Years of Hello Dolly!, which I will be bringing to various venues on several continents over the next few months, starting with Crazy Coqs in London on August 5th.Listen HERE