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.
Director Dominic Cooke’s production is a lean mean entertainment machine – each half is a tight hour (a refreshing contrast to the more lumbering Barbra Streisand-starring 1969 movie version), kept moving by Rae Smith’s projection-filled set design and Bill Deamer’s appropriately high-spirited choreography. And although the show’s farcical climax in a hat shop feels less like a tight physical comedy set piece and more like a tipsy game of musical chairs, its larky approach can tumble away when required. When Staunton sits alone by lamplight to sing “Love, Look in My Window”, the whole story is illuminated by this insight into Dolly’s hidden loneliness.
Dominic Cooke’s production of Hello, Dolly! opens 60 years after the musical first hit Broadway during a time of political upheaval provoked by the continuing war against Vietnam. As Imelda Staunton triumphantly takes the lead role, it’s clear why the musical is such a tonic for turbulent times, with its bracingly salty wit balanced by the redemptive philosophy that everyone deserves a second chance.
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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