For the past year and a half or so, the most popular show on Broadway has been Hamilton. The show is still a sellout for every performance in New York as well as in Chicago. In all my 39 years selling tickets for Broadway Shows in New York and London, Chicago, Toronto and all around the world, I'm not sure if I will ever see another show like it that will command the very high prices that Hamilton does. Or is it possible that the revival of Hello Dolly, starting in a little less than 2 weeks, will surpass ticket sales as well as box office receipts? We shall see.Still, every day in the theatre is somewhat different than the day before. We are, as a society, very caught up in the "celebrity culture". That brings me to my next point. Which is the Devine Miss M, Bette Midler of course. She is selling tickets like "hotcakes" since last September 2016.
Bette Midler will bring her incredible talent to the Shubert Theatre and play the starring role of Dolly Gallagher Levi in the revival of Hello Dolly. Hello Dolly starts preview performances on March 15 prior to opening night critics reviews on April 20-2017.
First day sales were $9 million dollars or so and the current estimate for advance sales are in the neighborhood of $30 million dollars as of this writing. Can you imagine that?
Hello Dolly was originally a Thornton Wilder Stage play written in 1954 called "The MatchMaker".
Hello Dolly was then made into a romantic musical comedy, which was first produced by David Merrick in 1964. Mr. Merrick was one of Broadway's biggest producers. The show won 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical which was a record held for 37 years until The Producers surpassed it. It starred Carol Channing. The show went on to become a film which starred Barbara Streisand,
Bette Midler will be joined on stage by a fantastic group of actors. David Hyde Pierce plays the role of Horace Vandergelder. Bette Midler plays the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi, who makes a living being a "matchmaker" amongst other sideline activities. The show take splace in New York City in 1890. As you sit in the audience, you'll see that New Yorkers are all excited that the widowed yet "brassy" Dolly Levi came to town with the goal of finding a wife for the "grumpy" Horace Vandergelder. Complications set in when Dolly soon decides that she wants Horace all to herself. How about that for fun?
Hello Dolly's book was written by Michael Stewart with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and direction by Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks. Choreography is by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle. My understanding is that Mr. Carlyle pays tribute to the late, great Broadway choreographer Gower Champion and Mr. Champions original dance routines in the original show.
Bette Midler has recently turned 71 years old and I'm sure she'll put on the performance of her life every time she goes out on the stage. Still, I found out that Hello Dolly will have veteran Broadway actress Donna Murphy play the role of Dolly Levi one day a week beginning on June 13-2017. On Tuesday evenings. Miss Murphy, who turns 58 years old on March 7-2017, will fill in for Bette Midler's vacation and personal time away from the show. My guess is that Donna Murphy will take over if Bette Midler decides to leave the show at some point and play 7 or 8 performances a week. I do notice that many performances for Bette Midler are sold out through the summer of 2017 but performances when Ms. Murphy is playing seem to be readily available.
Which brings me back to where I started in this post. We have become a celebrity culture indeed. Everyone wants to see the show when Bette Midler stars in it. Although I plan on seeing the show with Ms. Midler in it, I intend on seeing it with Ms. Murphy as well. I'm sure they'll both be fantastic playing the same role.
Although many of Ms. Midler's performances are sold out already, you might want to consider contacting our ticket experts at my company, Applause-Tickets. Applause-Tickets has access to an extensive inventory of Hello Dolly tickets when Ms. Midler appears.
Applause-Tickets can be reached at 212-307-7050 and we are open 24/7. We'd love to help you.
I hope you enjoyed my blog post on Hello Dolly on Broadway in 2017.
Cheers
Rich Gladstone
President
Applause-Tickets
NY NY 10019
Phone 212 307 7050
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