However, all Broadway diva hope is not lost.
HELLO, BEST BROADWAY SHOW I’VE EVER SEEN: I was passing through NYC for a weekend back in June, and like a couple slices of Bleecker Street Pizza, I always find time for theatre when I’m in town. I saw a few great shows, but the multiple Tony-winning revival of Hello, Dolly, starring Bathhouse Betty herself, Bette Midler, was really the wind beneath my Broadway wings.
I had seen the Divine Ms. M four years ago in her 2013 return to the Great White Way in the one-woman play, I’ll Eat You Last, in which she played pot chain smoking Hollywood agent, Sue Mengers, to perfection. But to be in the house while she sang those Jerry Herman classics right there in front of me on the big stage? Get your lives, folks: ‘sold out’ signs and StubHub trifling be damned, I was making this thing happen. And what an absolutely glorious night it was.
BEFORE MY TEARY EYES PASS BY: It won’t come as a surprise that, after having lived in NYC for 11 years, I had the incredible opportunity to see more iconic productions than I can even count. Truly blessed stuff. But I’d be lying if I said this revival didn’t bring me to literal tears as I sat in the best-seats-you-can-get-at-this-point balcony of the Shubert with my mouth (again, literally) hanging open in awe.
It wasn’t just the electric presence of and historic Tony-winning star turn by Ms. Midler (ALTHOUGH IT WAS); or the nailed-every-second supporting cast and chorus (ALTHOUGH IT WAS); or even the stunningly pitch perfect production values (ALTHOUGH… you get it). It was ALL of it together: the way every element worked in such complementary and enhancing harmony that made this Hello, Dolly something so special and fully realized. I was jiving on theatre geek bliss for weeks later, and still get chills when I listen to the cast recording. It made me feel like my first time seeing a show. It was that great.
The time came last week, though, when the inevitable announcement dropped: Lady Bette would be exiting stage right come January after an epic—and, at 71, no doubt exhausting—run. Who could hold a candle to her, or better yet, would even dare try? My hip was popped and eyes ready to roll with next-level sass when…
ALL PRAISE THE BROADWAY CASTING GODS: Enter Bernadette Peters, pretty much the only diva who could possibly keep such a bright Dolly flame burning. ‘Huzzahs’ were heard from Shubert Alley to Instagram, where celebrities’ feeds lit up right along with theatre lover comment boards like Times Square at 3am. Dolly would be left in spectacular—albeit excitingly different—manicured hands after all.
STILL PUTTIN’ ON THEIR SUNDAY CLOTHES: And to top it all off, I’m thrilled that Broadway vets Kate Baldwin and Gavin Creel—a Tony winner for his performance as Cornelius and the next best thing about the production behind Bette—are staying on. Which basically means that, if you haven’t seen this Dolly, it’s time you made the magic happen before the parade really passes by.