DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – The path to performing arts stardom has often gone through Millikin University.
All a person needs to do is hear the stories of university graduates from the last decade. Ian Liberto, a 2005 alumnus, and 2015 graduate Anthony Norman are both performing on Broadway and other national tours.
Liberto is currently on a “Hello Dolly” tour. He says the big stage experience is fun to soak in. Read MORE
What do Carol Channing at age 42, Pearl Bailey at 49, Ethel Merman at 62, Bette Midler at 71, and Bernadette Peters at 69 have in
common? It was at those points in their life that they first trod the boards on Broadway as the iconic musical character Dolly Gallagher Levi, the irrepressible matchmaker in “Hello, Dolly!” Read MORE
It’s hard to argue with success, especially when it’s the four-time Tony Award®-winning Best Revival of a Musical Hello, Dolly! which has been enchanting audiences for years. Full of life with a real steam engine train, singing waiters, and glorious sets depicting the year 1885, the show is a fabulous revival running in Chicago only through November 17. Read MORE
With a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, Hello, Dolly takes place at the turn of the 20th century and follows Dolly Gallagher Levi (Betty Buckley, with a stunning vibrato), a self-proclaimed matchmaker who cannot help but meddle in the affairs of others. She sets out on a trip to Yonkers to help Ambrose Kemper (Garett Hawe) and Ermengarde (Morgan Kirner) convince the half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder (Lewis J. Staldin, with good humor), Ermengarde’s uncle, that they should get married. However, as with any classic musical about love, nothing is ever simple. Read MORE
Dolly! stepping onto the stage of the Oriental Theatre to the glorious finale, I was mesmerized. And to hear guests hooting and hollering in the audience throughout this fantastic show proves that I am not alone. Read MORE