Imelda Staunton will be back where she belongs in *Hello, Dolly!* next summer, as one of the most iconic musicals of all time comes to The London Palladium. With an unforgettable score by the legendary Jerry Herman, Hello, Dolly! will begin performances at The London Palladium on Saturday 6 July 2024 for a strictly limited 10-week season.
Multi Olivier and BAFTA Award-winning __Imelda Staunton__ plays meddlesome socialite turned matchmaker Dolly Levi, as she travels to Yonkers, New York to find a match for the miserly, unmarried ‘half-a-millionaire’ Horace Vandergelder. But everything changes when she decides that the next match she needs to make is for herself.
With music and lyrics by__ Jerry Herman__ (*La Cage aux Folles, Mack and Mabel, Mame*) and book by __Michael Stewart__ (*42nd Street, Mack and Mabel, Barnum*), *Hello, Dolly!* is one of the most iconic musicals of all time. Jerry Herman’s timeless score includes ‘Put On Your Sunday Clothes’, ‘Ribbons Down My Back’, ‘Before the Parade Passes By’, ‘Elegance’, ‘It Only Takes a Moment’ and of course, ‘Hello, Dolly!’.
This brand new production reunites Imelda with director __Dominic Cooke__, following their spectacular, critically acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies at the National Theatre.
Designer Rae Smith orchestrates a blistering run of costume changes, and a set that at times beggars belief. Buildings and train stations fly in, shops whizz slickly into place on a conveyor belt, which also allows the cast to walk for mile after imaginary mile, as New York’s buildings and skies move past them on a video backdrop. The world feels expansive. Not to mention expensive. An opulent restaurant with a sweeping staircase appears. A steam train rolls onto stage (really) as if the Palladium’s wings are one great Mary Poppins carpet bag. It’s the kind of set that could upstage a lesser cast.
Hello, Dolly! review“Victorious turn from Imelda Staunton” REVIEWS JUL 19, 2024 BY HOLLY O'MAHONY THE LONDON PALLADIUM Imelda Staunton in Hello, Dolly! at The London Palladium. Photo: Manuel Harlan Imelda Staunton in Hello, Dolly! at The London Palladium. Photo: Manuel Harlan “Hello, Imelda!” Staunton is spectacular as widowed matchmaker Dolly Levi in Dominic Cooke’s long-awaited revival Facebook Twitter LinkedIn bookmark_border Sparkling with joie de vivre and running on a boisterous charm that prevents this safe but loveable production becoming overly sentimental, Dominic Cooke’s revival of Michael Stewart (book) and Jerry Herman’s (music and lyrics) 1964 musical about a widowed matchmaker who returns to New York City on a second wind marks the first time the show has been seen in London since Timothy Sheader’s polished 2009 production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. But “look at the old girl now, fellas”, because Cooke’s take is a far grander affair that stylistically leans into the story’s dawn-of-the-20th-century setting and is driven by a victorious turn from musical theatre heavyweight Imelda Staunton as Dolly Levi. The story follows its professional meddler from the small town of Yonkers, where she’s been on a mission to find a suitable wife for the miserly half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder (a socially awkward and tetchy Andy Nyman), to New York City. Continues... RELATED TO THIS REVIEWHello, Dolly! praised for majority female orchestra Hello, Dolly! praised for majority female orchestra How Hello, Dolly! set the template for leading ladies in musical theatre How Hello, Dolly! set the template for leading ladies in musical theatre But the show is essentially built around its second act title number, and a rosy-cheeked, mischievously likeable Staunton saves her best for it: gliding like royalty down the gilded staircase (made iconic by the Barbra Streisand-starring film) of the Harmonia Gardens restaurant and affectionately ‘wow wow wow-ing’ to waiters in velvet jackets as they coo “Hello, Dolly” back at her. If it’s a visual replica of the movie’s sequence, it’s also a spectacular scene in which Rae Smith’s set and costumes, Bill Deamer’s choreography and the performances all dazzle.
1964 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1965 | US Tour |
1st National Tour US Tour |
1965 | West End |
London Production West End |
1966 | US Tour |
2nd National Tour US Tour |
1967 | US Tour |
3rd National Tour US Tour |
1975 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1978 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
1995 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2006 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
2017 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
2018 | US Tour |
Revival National Tour US Tour |
2020 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
2024 | West End |
West End |
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