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.
Designer Rae Smith orchestrates a blistering run of costume changes, and a set that at times beggars belief. Buildings and train stations fly in, shops whizz slickly into place on a conveyor belt, which also allows the cast to walk for mile after imaginary mile, as New York’s buildings and skies move past them on a video backdrop. The world feels expansive. Not to mention expensive. An opulent restaurant with a sweeping staircase appears. A steam train rolls onto stage (really) as if the Palladium’s wings are one great Mary Poppins carpet bag. It’s the kind of set that could upstage a lesser cast.
Staunton is all brightness and bounce in the introductory Just Leave Everything to Me. She’s wry and tart in the witty Motherhood March and Dancing, quietly touching in the solo Look, Love in My Window. Then she unleashes the full-on, mind-altering force of her voice in the anthemic Before the Parade Passes By, in the title song, and in the swaggeringly flippant So Long, Dearie.
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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