| Hello Dolly! this afternoon | |
| Last Edit: ianx73 08:57 pm EDT 07/05/17 | |
| Posted by: ianx73 08:53 pm EDT 07/05/17 | |
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| I had the privilege of seeing Donna Murphy this afternoon in Hello Dolly! (on TDF no less). I’ve seen Bette also. Comparing the two is apples and oranges. With Bette, it’s undeniably a star vehicle of the first magnitude with all the attending hoopla. With Donna, this show is now more of an ensemble piece with a consummate pro at the helm. I wouldn’t have missed either of them. The minute Donna lowers the newspaper on the trolley to reveal her face; you know immediately that you are in the hands of a real pro. Unlike Bette, Donna is not relying on star charisma or the audiences’ love. She has created a 3 dimensional character and all of her scenes and songs are informed by very specific choices that she has made about this character. Donna’s Dolly is a hardworking blue-collar gal who has come up the hard way with traces of her New York/Irish roots and accent. This is a woman who is obviously a con artist and a grifter, albeit a most charming one. She knows every racket and multiple ways to keep her scam afloat. In this way her Dolly reminded me of Harold Hill in The Music Man. She’s a fast talking hustler and there is no way she won’t get what she wants/needs. One senses that her marriage to Ephraim Levi wasn’t a bed of roses and since his death, she’s struggled to pay the bills. Her Before the Parade Passes By feels like a woman, who desperately wants to give up the con and be a legitimate part of respectable society. Her entrance at the Harmonica Gardens is this version, is not a high powered musical star descending a glittery stair case basking in the adoration of her fans but is instead a flesh and blood woman who has seen better days but is determined to show the boys she still has it. And does she ever. The tumultuous applause that greets this number is not the usual homage to a star but recognition of this character’s triumph. Murphy’s choices are not more valid than Bette’s just different Not having to be in a great star’s orbit, the rest of the cast seems able to breathe more easily, Everyone’s performance is richer, funnier and more full-bodied. David Hyde Pierce is able to go more head to head with Murphy than he was with Midler We’re looking at him too, not just the lady in question and their chemistry is palpable, You’re actually happy that they got together at the end. Same is true for Gavin Creel and Kate Baldwin. The ensemble still continues to amaze and the Sunday Clothes number is one for the history books A second viewing also allowed me to enjoy the nigh on perfect production of this golden age musical. Every costume, every set, every song raises the bar to amazing heights. . This is the perfect recreation of a golden age musical and should be a permanent fixture on Broadway. It would be a way to remind people, that for one brief shining moment—there was magic on the Great White Way |
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| Previous: | The TV series (2016) is based on the play (2011), not the other way around. (NM) - Seth Christenfeld 10:32 pm EDT 07/05/17 |
| Next: | re: Hello Dolly! this afternoon - ianx73 12:20 pm EDT 07/06/17 |
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