Hello, Dolly! is just like London buses – you wait ages for one to come along, and then two suddenly pitch up at the same time. With Jerry Herman’s classic musical comedy, it’s been a long wait – Dolly Levi was last sighted in the West End 15 years ago – but finally the matchmaking widow is back where she belongs in a tale of two cities.
It’s London first at the Palladium from 6 July to 14 September with the great Imelda Staunton in the title role. And, in this week’s news, Australian actress Caroline O’Connor will be leading a different production in Paris, directed and choreographed by Stephen Mear.
The venue is the sparkling Lido2 on the Champs-Elysees from 7 November to the new year, closing on 5 January 2025. Set and costumes are by Peter McKintosh with Nigel Lilley as musical director.
Paris has already shown its love for O’Connor whose fabulous Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd at the Theatre du Châtelet is still fondly remembered. Among her many roles, she has played Velma Kelly in Chicago on Broadway.
The Lido2 show will be in English with French surtitles. In complete contrast, the Châtelet’s production of Les Misérables, which begins a five-week run on 22 November, will be in French with English surtitles. From that date until 31 December the two musicals will run side by side.
Les Misérables, from Victor Hugo’s epic novel of the same name, first played in its original tongue at the Palais des Sports on 17 September 1980 and what a journey it has been on since.
More than 130 million people – and counting – have seen it in 53 countries and 426 cities. It has been sung in 22 different languages. It has been running for 39 years in London and 16 on Broadway. This updated version by composers Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg will be directed by Ladislas Chollat with an all-French cast headed by Benoit Rameau as Jean Valjean and Sebastien Duchange as Javert. ‘Empty Chairs and Empty Tables’ becomes ‘Seul Devant Ces Tables Vides’ and ‘On My Own’ works out as ‘Mon Histoire’. Bring it home!
Jeremy Chapman
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