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Post by Being Alive on Aug 18, 2024 9:14:07 GMT
Return visit for me too last night.
I still really enjoyed it, but it's just so odd watching a production of Hello, Dolly that's absolutely nothing like the actual Hello, Dolly musical.
Sure all the songs are in there (still prefer I Put My Hand In to Just Leave Everything To Me, and Love Look Through My Window is unnecessary if you were actually doing Hello, Dolly as it just makes it all seem so sad) but I just want them to do Hello, Dolly as it was written.
The new orchestrations/weird mishmash of the stuff from the film isn't great (like, the title number should SWELL at the beginning and it just doesn't in the version of the score they're using.)
Sitting up front, that video screen is actually so crap it's not even funny - from a distance it's alright but up close it's so so bad.
And I've said it before and I'll say it again - Imelda should come down the staircase in the title number in the dress at the end, and she can wear the green thing for the finale.
I guess my overriding feeling is 'it wasn't broke, why did you feel you needed to fix it?' - audience went absolutely crackers for it though and the cast are evidently having a great time, so they're evidently doing something right for the majority of people.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 18, 2024 9:42:51 GMT
Genuine question: why does it matter what colour the dress is?
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Post by Ade on Aug 18, 2024 9:44:00 GMT
So I am going to be an outlier here though a few voting lowly at least.
First off, adding my thanks to various posters who mentioned the front row seats. We were just next to the conductor in row A and the visibility was more than fine. For £20, they are quite some tickets.
Otherwise, I suppose if it is your kind of thing then you might like it but for me it was just issue after issue - mainly all down to the plot. There isn't a hint, not even vaguest most broad hint, that Vandergelder is at all interested in Dolly. There isn't a glance, a moment's thought - the plot here just doesn't stand up. There isn't even a suggestion that he in anyway likes her. Total disinterest, he has more care and awareness for his clerks than he has for her. The sudden swerve into that is frankly nonsense. Not hard to fix, the slightest piece of direction could do it, add a lingering glance, an appraisal, a smile - anything at all. Honestly to the interval I was going with three stars but I think this is so poorly done, I've knocked it down to a two.
I have to assume this is done with a level of reverence for the original that means they won't make any changes. Tucker being 17 is from line in the script, cast someone close to the age or change that single line. Huntley is more than twice the age. He also feels wasted in this. I really liked Harry Hepple, I thought he was the best on the stage, but even allowing for the age difference, there also isn't anything in Hackl's relationship with Mrs Molloy, it is all text/lyrics, there is no chemistry, no interest - no spark. It just falls totally flat.
I probably could go on about original plot issues which I suppose a revival is just stuck with, Dolly has to hand out cards to everyone at the start and while some people know her, there isn't this great outpouring of love or even affection and then the title number just goes the other way, it too feels like it comes out of nowhere.
That might be my overall issue with this, nothing actually drives the plot. It just happens without buildup or precursor
Nothing was as bad as Ermengarde with a notable split, sighs and groans from people next to me contrasting with the performative braying from the people sat behind me, one laughed so the other laughed and then the third laughed - almost like they were timing it. The 'say that again' line is funny, I will grant that.
Good bits, some of the comedy is done well, the Orchestra sounds great but overall, no wow, no spectacle - it just was.
Two stars.
This echoes much of my view. Was there last night and failed to see what all the buzz was about. I’ve never seen the film or any other version on stage so completely new to it. All so very emotionless and unbelievable. Even the rapturous applause for the end of the title number had me perplexed - people were losing their minds applauding something very average, where frankly Imelda felt like one of the ensemble until the last couple of lines. The set was ok, not too sparse (mostly) and not too exciting. The train was… a standard stage-sized version of a train so nothing to shout home about there either. Was in the front row of the royal circle to one side so had a good view of an almost-unanimous standing ovation. I remained seated. Given it a 3 for enough redeeming features but it’s a run rate evening at the theatre rather than anything special. |
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 18, 2024 9:50:52 GMT
Genuine question: why does it matter what colour the dress is? I'm almost positive (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) that it's actually IN the script that she steps out of the carriage at the Harmonia Gardens in a red dress. They've changed it (as they've done with so much of this show) and its just another bit of 'it isn't broken why are you trying to fix it' for me |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 18, 2024 10:03:19 GMT
Right, but there are many details in many scripts in many shows that Directors are riding roughshod over all the time these days. The colour of a dress in one scene seems an odd one to get hung up about, especially as they’ve seemingly tried to take a different direction with this production.
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Aug 18, 2024 10:13:58 GMT
Genuine question: why does it matter what colour the dress is? I'm almost positive (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) that it's actually IN the script that she steps out of the carriage at the Harmonia Gardens in a red dress. They've changed it (as they've done with so much of this show) and its just another bit of 'it isn't broken why are you trying to fix it' for me It doesn't mention anything about a red dress, but it does say about her red hair being done up on the top of her head. |
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Aug 18, 2024 10:16:43 GMT
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 18, 2024 10:18:24 GMT
Thanks for correcting - evidently gotten confused somewhere.
I don't know why it bothers me so much, it just does - like I said, the rest of the audience are having a blast so it hardly matters what I think...
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Aug 18, 2024 10:22:14 GMT
I never realised that she had been away from the restaurant for 10 years? I thought it was only 1. What restaurant has the same staff after 10 years??
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Post by Steve on Aug 18, 2024 10:25:11 GMT
I'm almost positive (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) that it's actually IN the script that she steps out of the carriage at the Harmonia Gardens in a red dress. They've changed it (as they've done with so much of this show) and its just another bit of 'it isn't broken why are you trying to fix it' for me It doesn't mention anything about a red dress, but it does say about her red hair being done up on the top of her head. Yes. And Dolly says the stairs are "red" as well, but her dress colour is not specified anywhere:
"Why every Saturday night, from the first day we were married, down those red stairs at the Harmonia Gardens we came and danced the night away!"
It actually makes sense to wear a green dress coming down red stairs (since green is the complementary colour to red), so as to really stand out.  |
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Post by TheOneOnTheLeft on Aug 18, 2024 10:48:32 GMT
It doesn't mention anything about a red dress, but it does say about her red hair being done up on the top of her head. Yes. And Dolly says the stairs are "red" as well, but her dress colour is not specified anywhere:
"Why every Saturday night, from the first day we were married, down those red stairs at the Harmonia Gardens we came and danced the night away!"
It actually makes sense to wear a green dress coming down red stairs (since green is the complementary colour to red), so as to really stand out. Also, Green is the color most commonly associated with renewal and hope. So it does make sense within this production and the way Dolly is portrayed. |
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Post by alece10 on Aug 18, 2024 10:50:24 GMT
I never realised that she had been away from the restaurant for 10 years? I thought it was only 1. What restaurant has the same staff after 10 years?? There is a wonderful and iconic restaurant in St John's Wood called Oslo Court that's been there since around the 70s and some of the staff have been there pretty much since the beginning. And a friend of mine has been the Maitre D at a private London club for over 20 years so it does happen. |
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Post by parsley1 on Aug 18, 2024 11:17:04 GMT
This must have the worst box office
Of any show in the west end at the moment
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Post by 141920grm on Aug 18, 2024 11:20:26 GMT
a production of Hello, Dolly that's absolutely nothing like the actual Hello, Dolly musical. opinions like this attempting to invalidate this production is so surreal to me, for anyone seeing this for the first time it will be the 'actual' musical, and if they enjoyed it- a fantastic version at that I literally do not care about the red dress- it's Dolly descending the stairs, not the dress |
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Post by sf on Aug 18, 2024 11:37:35 GMT
I have to assume this is done with a level of reverence for the original that means they won't make any changes. They've made a ton of changes - they've swapped out the show's opening number for the opening number from the film, added two cut songs, and I think they've made some adjustments to dialogue too, though I couldn't say precisely where off the top of my head. |
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Post by sf on Aug 18, 2024 11:40:28 GMT
Genuine question: why does it matter what colour the dress is? It doesn't. And the green dress is an interesting choice, and you can see the logic behind it: in that period, would a grieving woman making her first steps back into the social world she inhabited with her late husband really make her entrance to the restaurant where they used to be regulars in a RED dress? |
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 18, 2024 12:07:26 GMT
a production of Hello, Dolly that's absolutely nothing like the actual Hello, Dolly musical. opinions like this attempting to invalidate this production is so surreal to me, for anyone seeing this for the first time it will be the 'actual' musical, and if they enjoyed it- a fantastic version at that I literally do not care about the red dress- it's Dolly descending the stairs, not the dress The point I was (evidently unsuccessfully) trying to make has been made better by sf above - compared to essentially every other production of Hello, Dolly, what's on stage at the Palladium has a largely different book and two songs that haven't actually ever been in the musical (apart from when Ethel Merman went to close the Broadway production - they've otherwise never been in it) so I don't think it's wrong to say that it's a significantly version of Hello, Dolly (in terms of both the book and score) than we've had before. Whole speeches have been moved, replaced or in some cases just put in that have never been there before. I'm not hating on it (despite how it may come across) as it's a perfectly lovely evening at the theatre - I just think it could have been more successful if they'd just stuck with the book and the score that's been bomb-proof for 60+ years |
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Post by theatrefan62 on Aug 18, 2024 13:23:47 GMT
Funny how people get jumped on and shut down for not liking changes in shows like Sunset and Starlight and get told 'theatre isn't a museum', yet for some reason the opposite is true of Dolly.
The broadway production really wasn't all that, it was completely taken over by star power. This version has character and heart and really isn't THAT different to what's gone before. People are acting like it's been rewritten.
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Post by sf on Aug 18, 2024 14:35:43 GMT
Funny how people get jumped on and shut down for not liking changes in shows like Sunset and Starlight and get told 'theatre isn't a museum', yet for some reason the opposite is true of Dolly. The broadway production really wasn't all that, it was completely taken over by star power. This version has character and heart and really isn't THAT different to what's gone before. People are acting like it's been rewritten. Well, it has been rewritten. They've made changes to the book and the score. Jerry Herman was consulted, the alterations were made with permission from the rights-holders, and the changes have all been made carefully and respectfully, but the show currently on stage at the Palladium is not the original book and score. Songs have been cut, songs have been added, and the source play has been mined for additional dialogue. Those are rewrites. And I should add - personally, I think this version of the show is an improvement.
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Post by SuttonPeron on Aug 18, 2024 16:12:45 GMT
Dolly is a musical COMEDY written by Jerry Herman, master of the American Showtune; with many moments, enough for a thread of their own, written to be memorable and iconic. When those are stripped down or erased "for darkness´ sake", as is the case with this production, the result is less satisfying and enjoyable, and what makes the show special is taken away.
The darker approach doesn´t work. When booking a ticket to Dolly, I most certainly don´t stop to think of how grief will be portrayed or how many lines will be added from the movie. I do, however, really look forward to the showstopping moments the show is notorious for.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 18, 2024 17:02:39 GMT
Someone called it “Hello Dully” on another thread 🙂
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Post by jr on Aug 18, 2024 17:27:41 GMT
Dolly is a musical COMEDY written by Jerry Herman, master of the American Showtune; with many moments, enough for a thread of their own, written to be memorable and iconic. When those are stripped down or erased "for darkness´ sake", as is the case with this production, the result is less satisfying and enjoyable, and what makes the show special is taken away. The darker approach doesn´t work. When booking a ticket to Dolly, I most certainly don´t stop to think of how grief will be portrayed or how many lines will be added from the movie. I do, however, really look forward to the showstopping moments the show is notorious for. Comedy: a drama of light and amusing character and typically with a happy ending (Webster's dictionary) This is a comedy. It does not mean you have to be laughing all the time or that you cannot have more dramatic moments. |
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Post by Talisman on Aug 18, 2024 17:32:55 GMT
Which moments are notorious? I.e notable for not being good?
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Post by sf on Aug 18, 2024 17:37:18 GMT
Dolly is a musical COMEDY written by Jerry Herman Hello, Dolly! is a musical comedy written by Jerry Herman AND MICHAEL STEWART. |
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Post by Talisman on Aug 18, 2024 18:13:20 GMT
Dolly is a musical COMEDY written by Jerry Herman Hello, Dolly! is a musical comedy written by Jerry Herman AND MICHAEL STEWART. Yes Writer of book often gets little credit |
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