Hello, Dolly! - London Palladium (2024)

[solangelafitte]

Jun 25, 2024 14:10:05 GMT mattnyc said:

Jun 25, 2024 12:40:58 GMT solangelafitte said:

Was just looking at a few dates in August, honestly I could see why people might be put off at the minute - looking at the calendar and you're met with a wall of minimum price £89.50. Has the grand circle sold out for every performance or is it just not on sale?

Think I'll happily be sticking with my restricted £20 front row and whatever I can grab lottery/rush wise later in the run!

Quickly looking at August dates, the grand circle is on sale with prices starting at £35

Okay I thought I was going insane, and turns out I was! I had hit Best Seats instead of All Seats in the dropdown menu 🙃

[alece10]

Isn't it sad that an iconic musical like this which hasn't been seen in London for a very long time with a great cast is struggling to sell tickets. Sign of the Times I guess and maybe because it won't really attract the younger audience.
Similar with Kiss Me Kate and Crazy For You which struggled. I hope it doesn't mean that as we go forward producers are reluctant to revive the classics which deserve to be seen.

[james123]

Go to designer Rae Smiths Instagram. Little pic for you. That stage looks high......

[Someone in a tree]

Jun 25, 2024 15:39:33 GMT alece10 said:

Isn't it sad that an iconic musical like this which hasn't been seen in London for a very long time with a great cast is struggling to sell tickets. Sign of the Times I guess and maybe because it won't really attract the younger audience.
Similar with Kiss Me Kate and Crazy For You which struggled. I hope it doesn't mean that as we go forward producers are reluctant to revive the classics which deserve to be seen.

Yes but no but! Even though it hasnt started previewing yet i cant help thinking that ive already seen it. Imelda will be Imelda and the director will do his usual thing. Not that things need to be radically reinvented but at these prices i cant get excited.

[mattnyc]

Also like everyone else is pointing out - it isn’t cheap. There very well might be a lot of people waiting to hear if it’s any good before deciding to spent the money.

[BurlyBeaR]

I had a group booking for it at the Adelphi with some friends pre covid. By the time it’s come back around we’ve all gone well off the boil.
I don’t like the Palladium either.

[marob]

I’ve never seen Hello Dolly and only really know the Louis Armstrong version of the title song. But while it should be right up my street, I just don’t feel that interested.

This thread started way back in 2019, but even so there were rumours that Bette Midler would be coming over and doing it a year before that.

And I think that’s the problem for me: that it’s been so long coming. Plus regular West End board-treader Imelda’s much less exciting casting than if Midler had come over.

[mrbarnaby]

Jun 25, 2024 17:40:17 GMT marob said:

I’ve never seen Hello Dolly and only really know the Louis Armstrong version of the title song. But while it should be right up my street, I just don’t feel that interested.

This thread started way back in 2019, but even so there were rumours that Bette Midler would be coming over and doing it a year before that.

And I think that’s the problem for me: that it’s been so long coming. Plus regular West End board-treader Imelda’s much less exciting casting than if Midler had come over.

Maybe you’ll feel more interested if it turns out to be a great production. I have absolute faith Imelda will be fabulous.

[Phantom of London]

People’s money isn’t infinite, people have only so much spare cash the sugar rush of saved up cash from Covid when the economy was closed is over. People have splashed out on Romeo and Juliet and a certain concert at Wembley Stadium, dynamic pricing hasn’t helped too.

But this will do fine once opened and word of mouth gets out.

[couldileaveyou]

Hello Dolly was last revived in London 15 years ago, which isn't a very long time. Imelda has been acting very regularly on stage, and just 4 years ago she was at the Bridge. The last two seasons of The Crown weren't particularly well received and she's the only Queen who didn't walk away with Emmys and Golden Globes. So it didn't raise her profile and for most people she remains the Harry Potter lady. This is hardly Bette Midler's long awaited return in a Broadway musical for the first time in half a century.

[nancycunard]

I’m a die hard Herman fan and young enough to have only seen the (subpar) Streisand film so I was always going to be in on this. But I think it’s a combination of the steep pricing structure and, as others have pointed out, for the vast majority of people it’s not a hugely enticing property in what is currently quite a competitive West End.

[n1david]

Someone pointed out (maybe not in this thread, maybe not even on this board) that the post-pandemic Dolly prices were much higher than the original cancelled run. Certainly for me it just felt too much and I'm a theatregoer most often to be found in the front stalls. I thought it wouldn't sell out so thought I would wait for reviews, word of mouth and any discounts that came along. I jumped for the £23 front row tix but booked thro TodayTix with ticket protection so if the reviews are bad or the stage is way too high I can get a ticket credit.

It's rare for me not to book something pretty much as soon as booking opens, but for me the issue was cost above all. Fingers burned too many times for things like Cock.

[alece10]

Agree that the cancelled Dolly run was much cheaper. I had paid £120 a ticket which was top price seat, bubbles, programme and, I think, ice cream or nibbles. I booked as soon as this went on sale and have paid more for a good, but not premium seat, and no extras.

[Being Alive]

It was also 30 weeks long though, so they had longer to make their money back.
They've got 10 weeks here.

[BVM]

Are sales that bad?

They look kinda middling to me. Unremarkable. Sluggish maybe.

But lots of things depend on last minute sales these days, especially since the coronavirus. And huge sales in advance tend to be the exception rather than the rule now.

I don't find it massively surprising though. I don't think it's that well known a musical in this country (I'd describe myself as a big musicals fan and only know the title number) and of the golden oldies is nowhere near the likes of My Fair Lady for example in name recognition.

I did listen to the Bette Midler CD when that came out (but couldn't remember anything other than, again, the title number).

So is it a star vehicle rather than an amazing musical in it's own right? Certainly Broadway folded immediately when they no longer had a "star" lined up - not that that's unusual there. And Imelda might be a great actress and very high up in luvvie circles but is she a big enough name for the Essex and Kent set who usually see the Palladium Summer musical? Combined with a show they don't really know, perhaps it's not enough.

Would also add that while the market regulates itself by curtain up and prices will plummet - their advance pricing strategy of the huge expansion of premium seats probably did put people off. To the extent you can still call it that, you have to go back to row P for the first row of "top price non premium." Which is a bit much.

Anyway. Maybe it will be amazing, the fabled word of mouth will kick in and sales will soar. Or maybe it will be like Crazy For You and there will be deals e-mailed every 5 mins.

You do wonder however if 2024 UK audiences simply aren't that interested in Broadway "golden age" musicals these days. They'd rather get drunk and cause chaos at Moulin Rouge et al.

Anyway, who can say? Musings and speculation.....

[Being Alive]

From what I've heard from people in the rehearsal room, this is going to be pretty special.

Obviously they have skin in the game, but it sounds like it's going to be great.

And it's been nearly 30 years since Imelda did an out and out musical comedy (playing Adelaide in an NT Guys and Dolls revival) so I think this is a bit of an event, in a return to a type of musical she's not done for a long while (she did the complicated, gritty roles for women in their 40s and 50s, which is great, but it'll be nice to see her go back to a different type of leading lady to what we've seen for a while)

[Jon]

Jun 26, 2024 10:39:41 GMT Being Alive said:

From what I've heard from people in the rehearsal room, this is going to be pretty special.

Obviously they have skin in the game, but it sounds like it's going to be great.

And it's been nearly 30 years since Imelda did an out and out musical comedy (playing Adelaide in an NT Guys and Dolls revival) so I think this is a bit of an event, in a return to a type of musical she's not done for a long while (she did the complicated, gritty roles for women in their 40s and 50s, which is great, but it'll be nice to see her go back to a different type of leading lady to what we've seen for a while)

Isn't Gypsy technically a musical comedy? 

[Being Alive]

It's subtitled 'A Musical Fable' - I'm not sure I'd call it a musical comedy though!

[apubleed]

I don’t think sales are bad. This it not old friends all over again. I expect it will sell out most shows close to curtain.

[james123]

I'm excited about this. But I have to say the social media has been shockingly bad. Next to nothing coming out. A couple of rehearsal photos maybe. The odd chap with an actor.
A few more tantalising details would've been nice? Producers? EMG marketing?

[mrbarnaby]

How will this even break even!

[A.Ham]

BVM makes some very good points… I very much hope Dolly’s a success, or yet again it starts proving the theory that all 2024 audiences want is singalong-drinkalong jukebox type shows. I know there’s exceptions to that but when high quality shows like Crazy For You and Old Friends and not-as-good-as-it-should-have-been-but-at-least-they-tried-something-different Opening Night struggle, I do start to worry what’ll be on offer in another five years or so.

[andypandy]

Sadly Imelda seems too posh, too old, too serious, too southern and too English for this role (I know she’s an actor). She lacks the cheekiness or fun Carol Channing, Babs or Bette Midler bring. She’s too classy!. It needs Ladg Gaga in the role - that will sell out every performance

[TallPaul]

Jun 26, 2024 16:45:27 GMT A.Ham said:

singalong-drinkalong

Possibly my new favourite expression. 

[amyja89]

I too am holding off on this for now, I'm struggling to get past just how much I hated Imelda Staunton in Gypsy (an against the grain opinion it seems). I don't get the 'she's too old' criticisms though. I think the Streisand film skewed people's perceptions of what the character is, and even Barbra herself said she was too young for the part.

I do like the idea of a good old fashioned musical though, so will be happy to go for a cheaper rush ticket if they become available.

Also, semi tangent, but by far my favourite version of the titular Hello, Dolly song is the Judy Garland/Liza Minelli duet from Garland's Live at the London Palladium album. Now that's showbiz honey!