Before the rock music of “Hair” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” before the ironies of Stephen Sondheim, before the bleak visions of Kander and Ebb, before the epic stagings of “Phantom” and “Les Miz,” Broadway musicals relied on at least one of three elements: hummable melodies that could be recorded by pop singers, roles where a star could bewitch the audience and a conflict-and-resolution structure dating to operettas of the 19th century.Read MORE

Broadway diva Betty Buckley grew up in Fort Worth and still lives on a horse ranch west of town. On the other end of the D-FW area, she’s appearing in the title role of the national touring production of Hello, Dolly! at the Music Hall at Fair Park, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals July 17-28.. Read MORE

To play the title character in the national tour of “Hello, Dolly!,” Betty Buckley lost more than 30 pounds, left behind the beloved horses on her Texas ranch and set aside anxieties about going on the road for the first time at 71.

She did all that to gain a part she’d never expected to take. Read MORE

A matchmaker, dance instructor, legal counsel, and mandolin teacher (among other occupations), Dolly Gallagher Levi is a woman of

countless talents and side-hustles in bustling, turn-of-the-century New York City. Undaunted by any challenge, Dolly sets out one last time to find a wife for a grumpy widower in Yonkers in the 1964 musical Hello, Dolly! with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart. Arriving with as much pomp and celebration as Dolly herself returning to the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, this U.S. Touring production of Hello, Dolly! (based on the 4-time Tony Award-winning 2017 Broadway revival) playing the Kennedy Center is a delightful and hyper-styled reimagination of a musical theater standard. Read MORE

I expect that, if you’ve found your way to this review, you will love the national tour of the recent Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, newly ensconced at Kennedy Center’s Opera House. Look at the old girl now, indeed. Read MORE