HELLO DOLLY's Bette Midler on 'Hocus Pocus': 'I Can't Understand Why There's Not a Sequel'

In a new interview with Billboard, star of stage and screen Bette Midler discusses taking on the iconic role of Dolly Levi in the Broadway revival of HELLO DOLLY. "I'm having a great time," she says of the highly anticipated musical revival. "I've gotten thin! Which I can't believe happened. I've never had a part this big on Broadway. I've learned a little bit of the ­dancing -- I mean, I've always danced, but I'd never done ­choreography where you have to be in time with 10 or 12 other people. It's a very steep learning curve. But I must say it's great. I love to dance. Everyone should dance. The weight just falls right off you!"

Discussing the possibility of a sequel to the 1993 film classic HOCUS POCUS, she shares, "You don't get to see women doing slapstick too much, and in the movie you can see that we're having a blast. For the life of me, I can't understand why there's not a sequel. All the shackles were off, as Donald Trump likes to say, and we were allowed to be as wild as we wanted to be. It was a perfect storm of fun."

Read the interview in full HERE

The Broadway revival of Michael Stewart (book) and Jerry Herman's (music and lyrics) Hello, Dolly!, will star the legendary Bette Midler. Directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, Hello, Dolly! will begin performances at Broadway's Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street) on March 15, 2017, with an official opening night of April 20, 2017.

In addition to Ms. Midler, includes Tony Award® and four-time Emmy Award-winner David Hyde Pierce (Horace Vandergelder), two-time Tony Award® nominee Gavin Creel (Cornelius Hackl), Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin (Irene Molloy), Taylor Trensch (Barnaby Tucker), Will Burton (Ambrose Kemper), Melanie Moore (Ermengarde), Tony Award nominee Jennifer Simard (Ernestina), and an ensemble of twenty-seven.

Based on Thornton Wilder's farce The Matchmaker, Hello, Dolly! caused an instant sensation when it premiered on Broadway in 1964, starringCarol Channing in the title role. It went on to win a record-shattering ten Tony Awards, including those for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Producer of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Scenic Design, and Best Costume Design. It was also named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics' Circle. Its original Broadway cast recording hit the top of the Billboard album chart, and years later was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It also marked the greatest producing triumph of legendary impresario David Merrick, running for 2,844 performances over seven years and breaking the record for the longest running show in Broadway history. In addition to Ms. Channing, an astonishing list of Broadway and Hollywood luminaries have inhabited the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi, including Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller, Betty Grable, Martha Raye, Ginger Rogers, Ethel Merman (in her last appearance on Broadway), and Mary Martin, who led the West End company.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski