Mickey Jo (0:00)

These, if you are wondering, are not my usual Sunday clothes. My Sunday clothes are usually like pajamas or a Minions onesie, but for Dolly, I make an exception. Oh my God. Hey. Bonjour tout le monde. My name is Mickey Jo and I'm obsessed with all things theater. Which is why I recently headed to Paris, France to go and see two musicals in 24 hours, the first of which was Les Miserables, performed at the Theatre du Chabette in French, which I've already reviewed here on my theatre themed YouTube channel or on podcast platforms. If that's why you're hearing me, you can go and check out that review. But the second show, Saw, was performed in English and that was hello Dolly. The classic musical comedy hello Dolly performed at the Theater Dooledo, a former cabaret venue that within the last few years has reopened as a space for musical theater. I first traveled there to go and see their production of Cabaret, then last year to see A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. And this year they are enjoying their most successful piece of programming yet with hello Dolly in celebration of the musical's 60th anniversary. Now, this was my second time seeing hello Dolly this year, and prior to that I'd only ever seen the film. I had never seen hello Dolly on stage because it's, you know, it's more often produced in the US where it has a little more cultural relevance. But we haven't had a lot of hello Dollies in the uk. Then this summer we had this huge revival at the London Palladium. It was beloved by much of the industry and I had a couple of small reservations about the specificities with which it was pitched tonally. Did I feel differently production at the Lido? Did I maybe prefer it even? Is that a shocking thing to say? Well, it's a position I will be explaining and perhaps even defending in today's full review video. Stay tuned to find out why I enjoyed this production a little more, what it did differently in this completely different theatrical space, as well as why I enjoyed its wonderful performances. And if you don't know the show, a little bit of context and history about the musical hello Dolly for you as well. Now, if you enjoy this review, make sure to subscribe right here on YouTube if that's where you're seeing me or follow me on podcast platforms. I am Mickey Joe Theater across the musical theater Internet and I have many more reviews and theater themed content coming very soon. If you have had the joy of seeing this production at the Lido in Paris, let us know what you thought of it in the comments section down below. And if you've seen any other production of hello Dolly historically, let us know about that one as well. In the meantime, here is what I thought of hello Dolly in Paris. So let's talk first of all about hello Dolly and the history and the context of this show. If I feel like I'm getting deja vu, it's because I reviewed the production in London not too long ago. Hello Dolly is a 1964 musical originally produced on Broadway with a score by Jerry Herman, a wonderful score, and a book by Michael Stewart. It is based on a Thornton Wilder play from the late 30s which was originally called the Merchant of Yonkers and was subsequently retitled the Matchmaker. Hello Dolly originally starred Carol Channing as Dolly Gallagher Levi, a very determined and opinionated and strong willed matchmaker in early 20th century New York who at the beginning of the show is returning to society having spent some years as something of a social recluse after the death of her late husband Ephraim Levi. Prior to this, the two of them had been very socially exuberant. They'd been out seeking life wherever it could be found, spending every come a Friday night or Saturday night at the Harmonia Gardens, their favorite restaurant where they were beloved by the staff. Dolly, in the company of a young artist named Ambrose Kemper, is traveling to Yonkers, New York where she is planning to meet with Horace Van de Gelder, who is a well known half a millionaire. He is a miserly and miserable older man who, despite being very contented with his fortune and less content with the company he finds himself in, who he deems to be fools, is planning to take a new wife so that she can help provide a comfortable home for him. Essentially now Ambrose the artist is infatuated with his niece with Van de Gelde's niece. This being one of many unions that Dolly is hoping to arrange in one of many problems she is hoping to resolve with a little bit of careful maneuvering. We immediately come to find out that Dolly is this spirited and willful individual who doesn't let anything stand in her way, whether that's her own, the currently impoverished circumstances. If she is dealing with any kind of turmoil or angst or sorrow, she does not reflect it outwards, but she is secretly scheming to arrange circumstances so that she can marry Horus for herself. She is hoping to pierce his planned arrangement with Irene Malloy, who is the proprietress of a hat store in New York. This because Dolly is tired of living hand to mouth this being something that she tells her late husband, Ephraim, who she speaks to over the show as she awaits a sign for him that he approves of her intentions and the union. We also meet the two young clerks from Vandergelder's Hay and Feed store. Their names are Cornelius, Hackle and Barnaby. They, overhearing some of this, plan to head to New York for themselves in order to really experience life and critically, to kiss a girl for the first time. It is there that they meet Irene and her store assistant, Minnie Faye, and everything sort of carries on from there, with Dolly interfering as necessary throughout proceedings. But those are our key players. The whole thing is very farcical and has an awful lot to say about the nature of love and marriage, as well as the joy of. Of life and immersing yourself in it. And those are, I think, the most important qualities in any production of the musical. This sense of joy and romance and life, a celebration of life, a vitality. Now, the book is utterly charming and the score is just wonderful. It is quintessentially American. That's why they play it on Main Street, USA in Disney World and Disneyland. Much of the music has also been popularized by the film adaptation, which starred Barbra Streisand as Dolly and made a handful of revisions to the material, as well as a new opening number. The original opening I put my hand in was changed for the largely similar, but slightly more patter driven, Just leave everything to me Just leave everything to me. And what's curious is the London Palladium revival starring Imelda Staunton, directed by Dominic Cook, which took place earlier this year, largely based itself on that film version. It incorporated its changes to the narrative, subtle shifts, a handful of lyrics that accompanied those changes, little changes to the script throughout, and critically, that different opening. Imelda did the Barbara version, but this Dolly is a more classic version, taking us back to the Broadway script. And while there are largely only subtle differences between the two, I would characterize this as being just that little bit more classic, just that little bit steadier. It charmingly offers less of an explanation as to how Cornelius and Barnaby end up so serendipitously in the exact hat store that their boss is planning to visit, though he doesn't know that they have taken leave of the store for the day. And the opening number, Wallet, doesn't offer the brilliant word play of I'll proceed to plan the whole procedure. I'll arrange for making all arrangements. I'll discreetly use my indiscretion etc, does immediately convey to us this sense of Dolly as someone who not only helps but interferes. As she explains to Mr. Kemper, I meddle. Now, here's what I took away from this material. Having seen the show a second time, and it truly was this concept of love winning the day. For all of Dolly's interference and meddling, you get this sense that the attraction between these characters, the romance between Irene and Cornelius with Dolly herself and Horace, it does feel, in the loveliest way, sort of inevitable. Everything that happens in the musical seems to, because Dolly has to, within an inch of her life, orchestrated it to be that way. But then there's this beautiful sense of chance to it as well. And if the defining moment comes a little way into the second act, when Dolly descends down the staircase of the Harmonia Gardens to joyful and emotionally overwhelmed and astonished staff there who greet her by performing with her this wonderful title number, hello, Dolly, it's because that is what this musical is trying to tell us. It's this idea of choosing life and choosing joy and returning to the human race before the parade passes by. And the sorrow that Dolly is emerging from, the grief that she has experienced, is an essential part of that. But it, the material, and in particular this production, don't dwell on those to any extent. It is about her return. It's about her descending the staircase and not what she's coming from. That is probably the thing that sets this apart the most from the London Palladium production. But let me tell you a little bit more about this version of the show and how they differed. Now, this Dolly has been directed and choreographed by the exceptional Stephen Meer and, like I said, a more traditional version of the script and of the show. The Palladium production from this summer opted for many of the film's changes, as well as restoring a cut song that they put in the second act while a elder, as Dolly was getting ready to go and spend the evening at the Harmonia Gardens with Horace and she sang the song, I believe it was Love, look through my window Love, come to my window look in my window in my window Anyway, that was not included in this version of the show, nor was the initial framing with Dolly putting a black dress away in her wardrobe. They truly did just focus on Joy here. Now, this is a very unique space, the Theater do Lido where this was being presented. Like I said, a former cabaret venue. They still have ele of that. They have these fountains beneath the stage that can be raised up on a hydraulic platform. They'd use the hydraulic platform to bring in different set pieces. In their production of Cabaret two years ago, they used the fountains themselves. Last year for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, they used them in the second act for a sequence that was visually stunning, if a little confusing in terms of how it contributed to the narrative. There was no real way to incorporate them into hello, Dolly, so they used them throughout the interval. There was this wonderful impromptu musical water show. Anyway, the stage itself is mostly a thrust, with Cabaret seating extending throughout multiple different tiers in the auditorium. It makes the whole thing feel very intimate and charming. Comic shows play very well in that space. The set design felt very classic. Early 20th century America reminded me visually of Disneyland a little bit. You could also do Ragtime on that set with the band on the upper level and the staircases being reconfigured for the second act to allow Dolly to enter through the middle, down a set of stairs into the Harmonia Gardens. And call me a purist. I like change. I like non Replica productions. I like people doing different, new, creative, innovative things. There's something about Dolly descending centrally down a staircase, facing forward and wearing a red dress with a big old feather in her hair that made me feel like this is Dolly coming home at the Palladium with Imelda wearing green and descending from the side cautiously down a curved staircase. It felt, as in much of the rest of that production, like a more nuanced Dolly, but a sort of a sadder Dolly. A Dolly uncertain about whether or not she wanted to return to the human race and the life that she had lived before. Caroline oconnors. Dolly Levi in this does everything with certainty. She descends that staircase with conviction. She is wearing a gorgeous red dress. She is sure that she is there. And it doesn't take away from the pathos of those moments where she speaks to Ephraim. We still feel that and we still understand everything that she's going through, but she's moved beyond that. That is a feature of her past life, and she hasn't forgotten that love. But she is looking to her future now. And when it's acknowledged within the material, either spoken or sung, it's done very briefly. She speaks to him and she sings in the song hello, Dolly I went away from the lights of 14th Street. And it's an acknowledgment, it's a sort of a twinkle in the eye, but it's not a single tear rolling solemnly down the cheek. You could call the productions otherwise largely similar. This one on a Smaller scale with a smaller cast. We didn't have a platform moving across the whole of the stage like they did at the Palladium. This moving walkway. We didn't have a train set piece come on and travel across the stage. They made a train out of bodies. They made the train out of the company with people sort of moving around the stage in train formation with a top hat, had steam coming out of it to look like the front of a steam train. And you know what? I thought that was better. I enjoyed that more. I like, like I said, creativity, innovation. I like a thrilling piece of staging that's going to take me by surprise and charm me more so than an expensive, great looking train. I liked when the train came on stage at the Palladium, but I like the train coming together, created by this company of players in front of our eyes in Paris even more with parasols, with hats, with us innately understanding that this is what they're creating on stage and the steam coming out of the hat. That was delightful. I should add as well that the production was designed by Peter McIntosh with musical direction from Nigel Lilly. And I enjoyed the costumes. I thought they were gorgeous. They were very. Hello, Dolly. It is, as always, a symphony of hats and beautiful waiters uniforms. They had little handle straps underneath the trays that they were carrying. I don't know if that's technically considered cheating, but I thought it was clever because nobody dropped a tray, which I saw happen at the Palladium. I also think there was one really ugly hat. I think it was the hat returned by Ms. Mortimer. I'm sorry to say. Maybe that was the point, that it was meant to be a garish hat. But, you know, Ms. Mortimer is sort of implied to be unreasonable in returning this hat for the umpteenth time in this production. I was like, you know what, Ms. Mortimer, I get it. That is not the most fetching hat that I've seen this evening. But you have to hand it to Stephen Mere, who understands classic and who understands that really charming, slightly comic sensibility and everything that he's choreographed over the years. He does whimsy exceptionally well and he does that slightly camp edge exceptionally well. The moment that we had steam coming out from beneath the stage, when Barnaby and Cornelius had conspired to blow up a can of tomatoes so that the smell would put off customers and they could close the store. The way in which you had them scrambling between different pieces of furniture, trying to hide in Mrs. Molloy's store while Dolly and Mrs. Molloy and Minnie Faye distracted Van de Gelder with this elaborate song about patriotism, always one of the most unusual and charming parts of the score. As has become customary with productions at the Lido, characters entering the stage via the audience moving between tables. You had Dolly offering her cards for her various services to members of the audience in the front row and chatting with them as she's exiting the space, all deeply charming. And then we have to talk about the choreography. Show stopping choreography, which is what you expect from a hello, Dolly. If the waiter's gallop can't stop the show. And then hello, Dolly, stop it a second time, moments later. I don't want it. Because that is what I have expected from this musical. And that's exactly what happened here. But those were not the only beautifully choreographed moments, because we have the whole dancing sequence in the first act, when Dolly is teaching Cornelius and Barnaby how to dance, and they're so overcome by the joy of that that they all take to the street and they all dance around together. And I grant you, some of the grandeur and the scale of the Palladium production wouldn't have been possible in a space like this. Just something like before the parade passes by where we don't see an entire parade behind Caroline as she's performing. This song doesn't quite carry as much oomph, but she delivers it nonetheless. And it wouldn't be Stephen Mir if we weren't finding a way to tap dance. The tap dancing was sublime. I love tap. It's an easy way to win me over. But it was so extraordinarily well done in this production. All of the grace and the athleticism of this company, all of the brilliant choreography. It was lighter than air. It was dreamy, it was romantic, it was perfect, it was splendid. And that, I'm hoping, conveys a sense for why I preferred this Dolly, really. It's a question of taste. It's like how you want your steak in a restaurant. Some people would have preferred, I assume, the version of Dolly at the Palladium this summer, because it had that additional layer of depth, of gravitas, perhaps. And it would resonated with a lot of people who shared in that experience of having lost a partner or a loved one. And then for others, your preference, even if you have that same experience, might be something that is just effervescently and unashamedly joyous and, you know, isn't framed with that hint of despair that I think is a very British concept, for everything to be just that little bit of Bittersweet. There are some dishes like hello Dolly, where bitterness is not something that I want anywhere near it. I just want joy and levity. The only thing I will say in terms of shortcomings, we could have laughed a little more. There are sequences and there are chains of events in this show where we ought to be able to find laugh upon laugh upon laugh upon laugh. The circumstances of this production make it very difficult because it's performed in English in Paris, and you have sur titled on either side of the stage so that French speaking audience members can pay attention to that as they're enjoying the show. The problem with this is that many of the best punchlines are are displayed long before they come in the dialogue. And it throws off the whole timing. Comedy is about timing. They had the same problem with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. And it's also about delivery and it's about expression and characterization and tone of voice. And when you divorce the understanding of the line from the performer to the translation over there, comedy is the hardest thing to convey. You can deliver a lot of the rest of a theatrical presentation and you can allow audiences to follow and understand and engage with it, but making them laugh in another language, that's a hard thing to do. That and I don't find French audiences, in my experience of them so far, to be particularly vocal during a performance. After the thing, sure. But laughing, applauding, the concept of entrance applause as a thing seems very alien to a Parisian audience. And those are all little details that hello Dolly usually thrives on. Now, the final thing for me to do is to tell you about this production's glorious company led by Caroline O'Connor. Let's talk about the performances. Now, Caroline is an Australian musical theater veteran and she has appeared on stage around the world, on Broadway, in the West End, and it was a delight, nay, a privilege to see her. Dolly. She is so perfectly cast in this role because she's so winningly charming, because she's this old school leading lady. I was watching her on stage for, I think, the first time. I don't think I've had the joy of seeing Caroline O'Connor perform before and realizing she is this combination of Liza and Chita Rivera with a lot of Barbara thrown in there vocally as well. And you can tell that she has lived and trained and performed with the greatest respect for those old school classic leading ladies. She has the same twinkle in her eye, she has the same flair in her delivery. The things that can't be taught in the realm of musical theater and performance. She has that quality that you have to be born with. She has that understanding of the material and where it comes from and those that came before. The way that she lands the comedy, the way that she ran this characterization, the way that she embodies this woman and her power and her determination, that little bit of grit, but with no edge whatsoever, with nothing but charm and glee, that means you fall in love with Dolly instantly and you stay in love with her throughout the thing. When she is plotting the demise of relationships, when she is deliberately agitating this man, when she is engineering all of these circumstances beyond the knowledge of any of these other characters involved, you delight in all of her affairs because she's so fantastic, speaking technically. It was also a joy to hear her sing this score, her voice perfect for it. That really old school Broadway quality, the resonance that she has vocally, the vibrato, it was perfect. And the best version of a hello Dolly number, as in the song itself, is one where you're really anticipating it. And because she is so dynamic on stage, because she is such a light, we feel her absence in the second act until that moment. And they really preempted in the script when you have all these waiters running around saying, it's her, she's here, she here, she's coming. And then the moment happens when she enters and joy radiates from her, this huge smile across her face. And the utter accomplishment and comfort with which she performs that number tells you that Dolly is exactly where she belongs. Just like they say in the lyric, I cannot think of a better Dolly. I hope that she gets to do it honestly in subsequent productions around the world, because everyone deserves a part of that joy. And she was joined by a wonderful company. Starring opposite her as Horace Van de Gelde was Peter Pollycarpu, who is one of our best comic musical theater actors. His performance as Ali Hakeem in the National Theatre production of Oklahoma, I think to this day has yet to be bested. He is particularly fantastic as these long suffering romantic characters. He plays the agitation very well, but he is still likable to us. And that's a difficult thing for Evander Gelder, particularly the way that he is introduced and, you know, how he spends the majority of the show. He has this little moment right at the end in order to redeem himself. I believed the love between them more in this production, I think, than I did at the Palladium. And I didn't find his outbursts wearying. I found them charming, in fact, as were the Quartet of young lovers comprised of Cornelius Hackl, played by Carl oh, Irene Malloy, played by Monique Young, Barnaby Tucker, played by Reese McGowan and Minnie Faye, played by Craig Chrissy Beamer. Carl, particularly delightful in those moments where you could see him falling in love with Irene. And Monique's performance of Ribbon Stand My Back. Beautiful, Lighter than air. Delicious. Sounded perfect. Tonally wonderful. It had this delicate but womanly romantic quality to it where it felt like this mature and understood love song from the perspective of someone who has lived a life, who has been married, who has become a widow and is ready to experience passion and romance again and truly. Rhys and Chrissie had several scene stealing moments as Barnaby and Minnie Faye. A delight to see a production where those two, with what limited material they have, are as wonderful as. Again, charming, delightful as they were. This largely because Rhys played Barnaby in a way that was just so sweet and so earnest. And Chrissy has this indefatigable energy on stage. She's been brilliant in just so many things. And that first scene where we meet her where she is absolutely scandalized by the things that Mrs. Molloy is saying and she's reluctant to participate in this kind of shocking conversation. She's hysterically funny. And then the two of them together as they come together. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And don't get me wrong, it's not a musical that feels compellingly vital and like it speaks to the now, but it's a tonic for challenging times and it at its best is a bubbling glass of champagne. And that is what I thought this production was. That is exactly what I've been wanting from a hello Dolly. And that is what you are getting right now in Paris. The production has been so successful at the Lido Theater that it's just announced an extension. I hope that that may continue and it can extend further into 2025. Do yourselves a favor, head on over to France and check out this production at the Lido Theater. This is. I have seen them produced so far. It tonally works the best in that space. It's a really fancy and luxurious theatrical experience. Sitting at a cabaret table. You can order a beverage, you can get a little something to eat, you can watch this beautiful show, listen to this fantastic band, enjoy proper old school classic musical comedy in the most charming setting. It's a wonderful time I can thoroughly recommend and I'm so glad that I went to Paris to go and see it for myself. If you would like to see what else we got up to during our trip, including our visit to Les Mis. You can check out my Paris vlog, which I shared this weekend here on YouTube. But otherwise, that is everything that I have to say about hello Dolly at the Lido. I hope that you enjoyed this review. If you did, make sure to follow me. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of my upcoming reviews and my other theatrical coverage. Of course, if you've seen this production, don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments down below as well. And I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Joe Theater. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a Stagey day. Subscribe.