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.
Even as she’s singing “wow wow wow fellas”, you half-register that, actually, for all its irresistible charm, “Hello, Dolly!” offers only an intermittent wow-factor, and nothing quite as career-defining for the star as her tour de force a decade or so ago in Sweeney Todd. Cooke taps the pathos of the character’s situation – presenting her initially alone, tidying clothes into a wardrobe – before hurtling her into a moving bustle of citizenry, as she gaily doles out calling-cards; later, she sings Look, Love in My Window.
It’s best when it bolts along and veers away from sentimentality, and Staunton gets this: she always has a glint in her eye that shows she’s in on the joke. Oh, and she can sing! She belts the titular track in act two in a way that makes you feel perplexed as to why she hasn’t done much more of this before. She’s always seemed a kind woman in press interviews and her warm nature is the perfect match for the soft empath Dolly. Barely off stage for over two hours, Staunton is after as much fun as the audience, and always smiling in our direction in a way that is saying “this is ridiculous, isn’t it?” without actually saying it. (Her husband, the actor Jim Carter, was in tears in the stalls watching on opening night.)
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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