Back on Broadway where she belongs,
Bette Midler
stars in this 2017 revival of
Jerry Herman
's
Hello, Dolly!
, and joins the impressive line of performers who have made the part their own.
Mary Martin
,
Pearl Bailey
Ethel Merman
Ginger Rogers
, and
Barbra Streisand
are among the most celebrated stars of this musical, which opened in 1964 with
Carol Channing
playing Dolly Gallagher Levi, a fin de siecle New York society lady and matchmaker.
Midler
easily withstands all comparisons with her predecessors and puts her own stamp on her part with her brassy persona and instantly recognizable voice. Joined by
David Hyde Pierce
as the "well-known, unmarried, half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder, and leading a cast that includes
Gavin Creel
as Cornelius Hackl,
Kate Baldwin
as Irene Molloy, and
Taylor Trensch
as Barnaby Tucker,
and her colleagues are confident and engaging as they tread the boards, and clearly deserve their ten Tony Award nominations. Directed by
Jerry Zaks
, with fresh orchestrations by
Larry Hochman
, and musical direction by
Andy Einhorn
, this presentation of
has the appropriate period feeling and quaint New York charm that have kept this old-fashioned musical fresh for more than half a century. The recorded sound is flawless and captures the voices and orchestra with credible front-row presence. ~ Blair Sanderson