Hello, Dolly! 100th show

[Zamedy154]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 3:31am

Just returned from what will be a night of theatre I will never forget. Ever. I drove 8 hours and spent a lot of money to see Dolly tonight. And it was truly worth every mile, every gallon of gas and every last penny for what turned out to be the 100th show.

We saw Dolly while it was still in previews and as incredible as that night was I must say tonight's show was even more fun and more enjoyable. The entire cast was ON FIRE. The audience was ON FIRE from overture to final curtain. 

I am a Bette fan and will be till the day I die. Tonight she truly Blew. Me. Away. She has grown in this role since I first saw her at the end of March. She is extremely funny (those facial expressions!), charming, witty, and radiates warmth. We knew that. But tonight, she knocked every single one of her moments with her late husband out of the park. She was much more refined. Connected. Emotional. At the end of Act 1 right before 'Parade,' she moved me to tears. And her 'Parade.' In March, I'll admit I was a bit underwhelmed. Tonight, she blew the roof off the place. Perhaps her recent vacation gets credit for this... vocally she sounded SOLID. Strong. Confident. Beautiful. She was doing things to songs that were better than the cast recording. Simply put, she sounded amazing tonight. And the title song... pretty sure they could hear the roar at Juniors across the alleyway (in fact afterward one of the dancing waiters said the audience response after 'Dolly' was electrifying).

Afterward, we saw her Hocus Pocus co-star Kathy Najimy leaving the theatre. And then it started to rain. And rain. And rain. We got SOAKED waiting for Bette to come out. She never did, and that's fine. But kudos to Kate Baldwin for stopping to sign, and MUCH LOVE to Taylor Trensch who ran over to us in the rain to sign (he was SOOO adorable and sweet). And David Hyde Pierce. Class act to the moon and back. Pouring cats and dogs yet he still came around and signed for all of us standing in the rain. He put his hood up and walked around the entire perimeter. He even went as far as to open our Playbills and find a dry page inside when he got to one (like mine) in which the cover was soaked. Wow.

This production is pure JOY from start to finish. It deserves every accolade and every award. And we all owe Jerry Herman much gratitude for giving us the gift of Dolly.

 

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 7/23/17 at 03:31 AM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 7:20am

So glad to learn that I'm not the only Dollypop anymore. Welcome to the club!

[RogerMoore]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 8:22am

I was there as well. Couldn't agree more. I've seen it a few times now but last night was really something special

[DAME]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 11:41am

That is awesome!  So happy for both of you .  I saw on Instagram that Carol Burnett was there this weekend as well.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 11:59am

Love this story! Thank you so much for writing and sharing it

This show, this production, and this cast are truly very, very special. 

[Princeton78]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 9:11am

Dollypop said: "So glad to learn that I'm not the only Dollypop anymore. Welcome to the club!"

Oh, I definitely joined the club last Tuesday night! 

[DAME]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 4:55pm

Did they not count preview performances?

[Robbie2]

Posted: 7/25/17 at 4:22pm