**Hello, Dolly! at the London Palladium Review: ★★★★
Many mid-20th-century musicals receive glamorous revivals, but few look and feel as modern as Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of Hello, Dolly!, this year’s most anticipated musical.
Cooke transports us to an 1890s New York, vividly brought to life with vibrant colors and elaborate set pieces that border on the cartoonish. Large trolleybuses roll onto the stage, warm lighting pulses like a nightclub, and the fashion is extraordinary. While the Palladium is known for its lavish productions, Hello, Dolly! takes it to a new level.
The show is anchored by the enchanting Imelda Staunton, whose entrance was met with thunderous applause on press night, a cheer so loud even the elderly celebrities in the audience couldn’t miss it. It was the loudest reception I’ve ever heard in the West End.
Staunton plays Dolly Levi, a matchmaker trying to find a wife for the cynical Horace Vandergelder, while also developing an interest in him herself. Meanwhile, artist Ambrose is enamored with Vandergelder’s niece Ermengarde and enlists Dolly’s help. Based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, the play features a series of comedic set pieces, including a fancy restaurant and a hat shop, with characters hiding in cupboards and under tablecloths.
The show is both heartwarming and humorous, though not without flaws. Cooke’s direction can be overly indulgent, with some scenes, especially act 1’s ‘Dancing,’ dragging on too long.
The production shines when it moves quickly and avoids sentimentality, a balance Staunton masterfully strikes. She exudes a knowing charm and delivers the titular song in act two with such power that one wonders why she hasn’t done more musical theater. Her warm and kind persona perfectly suits Dolly’s character. Staunton remains on stage for over two hours, sharing in the audience’s joy and subtly acknowledging the absurdity of it all. Her husband, actor Jim Carter, was reportedly moved to tears during the opening night.
Act two features the campy and delightful ‘The Waiters’ Gallop,’ performed twice due to its sheer absurdity and brilliance. Act 1’s ‘Before the Parade Passes By’ competes with its extravagant costumes and infectious energy, while ‘Ribbons Down My Back’ offers a brief, serious emotional moment.
The cast, including Jenna Russell and Tyrone Huntley, delivers outstanding performances, shining as brightly as the New York skyline. This dazzling production is undoubtedly the musical of the summer.
Hello, Dolly! runs at the London Palladium until September 14.
Read more: Slave Play review: Kit Harington in uncomfortably funny racism satire
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**Hello, Dolly! at the London Palladium Review: ★★★★
Many mid-20th-century musicals receive glamorous revivals, but few look and feel as modern as Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of Hello, Dolly!, this year’s most anticipated musical.
Cooke transports us to an 1890s New York, vividly brought to life with vibrant colors and elaborate set pieces that border on the cartoonish. Large trolleybuses roll onto the stage, warm lighting pulses like a nightclub, and the fashion is extraordinary. While the Palladium is known for its lavish productions, Hello, Dolly! takes it to a new level.
The show is anchored by the enchanting Imelda Staunton, whose entrance was met with thunderous applause on press night, a cheer so loud even the elderly celebrities in the audience couldn’t miss it. It was the loudest reception I’ve ever heard in the West End.
Staunton plays Dolly Levi, a matchmaker trying to find a wife for the cynical Horace Vandergelder, while also developing an interest in him herself. Meanwhile, artist Ambrose is enamored with Vandergelder’s niece Ermengarde and enlists Dolly’s help. Based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, the play features a series of comedic set pieces, including a fancy restaurant and a hat shop, with characters hiding in cupboards and under tablecloths.
The show is both heartwarming and humorous, though not without flaws. Cooke’s direction can be overly indulgent, with some scenes, especially act 1’s ‘Dancing,’ dragging on too long.
The production shines when it moves quickly and avoids sentimentality, a balance Staunton masterfully strikes. She exudes a knowing charm and delivers the titular song in act two with such power that one wonders why she hasn’t done more musical theater. Her warm and kind persona perfectly suits Dolly’s character. Staunton remains on stage for over two hours, sharing in the audience’s joy and subtly acknowledging the absurdity of it all. Her husband, actor Jim Carter, was reportedly moved to tears during the opening night.
Act two features the campy and delightful ‘The Waiters’ Gallop,’ performed twice due to its sheer absurdity and brilliance. Act 1’s ‘Before the Parade Passes By’ competes with its extravagant costumes and infectious energy, while ‘Ribbons Down My Back’ offers a brief, serious emotional moment.
The cast, including Jenna Russell and Tyrone Huntley, delivers outstanding performances, shining as brightly as the New York skyline. This dazzling production is undoubtedly the musical of the summer.
Hello, Dolly! runs at the London Palladium until September 14.
Read more: Slave Play review: Kit Harington in uncomfortably funny racism satire
