Hello, Dolly! - London Palladium (2024)

Go to designer Rae Smiths Instagram. Little pic for you. That stage looks high......

Also like everyone else is pointing out - it isn’t cheap. There very well might be a lot of people waiting to hear if it’s any good before deciding to spent the money.

I’ve never seen Hello Dolly and only really know the Louis Armstrong version of the title song. But while it should be right up my street, I just don’t feel that interested.

This thread started way back in 2019, but even so there were rumours that Bette Midler would be coming over and doing it a year before that.

And I think that’s the problem for me: that it’s been so long coming. Plus regular West End board-treader Imelda’s much less exciting casting than if Midler had come over.

People’s money isn’t infinite, people have only so much spare cash the sugar rush of saved up cash from Covid when the economy was closed is over. People have splashed out on Romeo and Juliet and a certain concert at Wembley Stadium, dynamic pricing hasn’t helped too.

But this will do fine once opened and word of mouth gets out.

I’m a die hard Herman fan and young enough to have only seen the (subpar) Streisand film so I was always going to be in on this. But I think it’s a combination of the steep pricing structure and, as others have pointed out, for the vast majority of people it’s not a hugely enticing property in what is currently quite a competitive West End.

Agree that the cancelled Dolly run was much cheaper. I had paid £120 a ticket which was top price seat, bubbles, programme and, I think, ice cream or nibbles. I booked as soon as this went on sale and have paid more for a good, but not premium seat, and no extras.

Are sales that bad?

They look kinda middling to me. Unremarkable. Sluggish maybe.

But lots of things depend on last minute sales these days, especially since the coronavirus. And huge sales in advance tend to be the exception rather than the rule now.

I don't find it massively surprising though. I don't think it's that well known a musical in this country (I'd describe myself as a big musicals fan and only know the title number) and of the golden oldies is nowhere near the likes of My Fair Lady for example in name recognition.

I did listen to the Bette Midler CD when that came out (but couldn't remember anything other than, again, the title number).

So is it a star vehicle rather than an amazing musical in it's own right? Certainly Broadway folded immediately when they no longer had a "star" lined up - not that that's unusual there. And Imelda might be a great actress and very high up in luvvie circles but is she a big enough name for the Essex and Kent set who usually see the Palladium Summer musical? Combined with a show they don't really know, perhaps it's not enough.

Would also add that while the market regulates itself by curtain up and prices will plummet - their advance pricing strategy of the huge expansion of premium seats probably did put people off. To the extent you can still call it that, you have to go back to row P for the first row of "top price non premium." Which is a bit much.

Anyway. Maybe it will be amazing, the fabled word of mouth will kick in and sales will soar. Or maybe it will be like Crazy For You and there will be deals e-mailed every 5 mins.

You do wonder however if 2024 UK audiences simply aren't that interested in Broadway "golden age" musicals these days. They'd rather get drunk and cause chaos at Moulin Rouge et al.

Anyway, who can say? Musings and speculation.....

Isn't Gypsy technically a musical comedy? 

I don’t think sales are bad. This it not old friends all over again. I expect it will sell out most shows close to curtain.

How will this even break even!

Sadly Imelda seems too posh, too old, too serious, too southern and too English for this role (I know she’s an actor). She lacks the cheekiness or fun Carol Channing, Babs or Bette Midler bring. She’s too classy!. It needs Ladg Gaga in the role - that will sell out every performance