Hello, Dolly! ★★★★★ The London Palladium | Jul 6 - Sep 14, 2024


Hello, Dolly! is a star vehicle and there have been some great ones who have played this role: Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey and Barbra Streisand among others. With this performance Imelda Staunton takes her well-deserved place in this galaxy. This is a slightly more reflective version of the bold and brassy matchmaker and meddler par excellence, but Staunton pulls out all the stops in the big production numbers, and it is hard not to sing along when the staff at the Harmonium welcome Dolly back to town. Jerry Herman's great score is irresistible and the show just bounces along with one infectious number after another. The gags may be corny and the plot may be thin, but the enthusiasm and energy of the cast make this a totally enjoyable spectacle that provides a completely satisfying evening of entertainment. The story celebrates an indomitable woman who, despite her attachment to her late husband, is determined to re-marry and live life to the fullest. It is relentlessly optimistic, and there are some not very subtle digs at stereotypical gender roles in songs like "It Takes a Woman." As the miser and curmudgeon, Horace Vandergelder, whom Dolly has set her sights on as husband material, Andy Nyman is quite perfect, and the rest of the troupe manage to bring a nicely calibrated silliness to their one-dimensional roles. Director Dominic Cooke has ensured that the pace never flags, and Bill Deamer's choreography is appropriately big and flawless. In the end however, this show is all about Staunton, and she really delivers. Alternately sassy and sympathetic, manipulative and maternal, preposterous and pensive she rivets the audience's attention whenever she is on stage. To echo Dolly's own advice "Before the Parade Passes By," don't miss this first-rate revival of the ultimate feel-good show.

Rated: ★★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Manuel Harlan

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