'Hello, Dolly!' review – this roof-raising musical spectacular is the show of the year

Read our review of Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly!, starring Imelda Staunton, now in performances at the London Palladium to 14 September.

Hello, Imelda! It’s so nice to have her back where she belongs. And we’ve had quite the wait for the actress’s triumphant return to musical theatre: Dominic Cooke’s lavish revival of Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s witty 1964 Broadway favourite Hello, Dolly! was delayed four years by the pandemic. Yet somehow that makes this success all the sweeter, and contributes to an extraordinary production that is every bit as moving as it is utterly spectacular.

Cooke grounds the story in grief: it begins with Imelda Staunton’s Dolly Gallagher Levi putting a black dress in her wardrobe, officially ending the mourning period for her beloved late husband Ephraim. Then the walls are whisked away to reveal a bustling turn-of the-century street, in the first of many astonishingly slick scene changes, and Dolly is back out in the world.

There’s something of Staunton’s Momma Rose in her firecracker portrayal of this motor-mouthed hustler and schemer, who has a business card for every situation (matchmaking is just the tip of the iceberg), as we hear in the jauntily rhyming “Just Leave Everything to Me”. Yes, it’s how she makes a living, but it’s also what defines her. As she puts it: “Some paint, some sew – I meddle.”

Those in desperate need of her meddling include half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder, who values money over people; Horace’s overworked clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, longing for adventure beyond suburban Yonkers; and milliner Irene Molloy, who is wrongly suspected of doing away with her husband, so eternally trapped in questionable widowhood.

Dolly contrives to have them all meet up in New York, so that she can introduce the clerks to Irene and her assistant Minnie, and – as she takes that final brave step – woo Horace for herself. A fabulous fast-paced farce ensues, powered by the small-but-mighty Staunton, who can command the Palladium all by herself.

That’s the genius of Cooke’s production, which balances epic entertainment with exquisitely delicate emotion. One moment you’re gasping as a steam train comes puffing onto the stage; the next Staunton fells you with a simple musical plea for love to “look in my window”.

Sometimes we get both. Dolly’s renewed determination to seize life and raise the roof is literalised in “Before the Parade Passes By” with a jaw-dropping pageant of balloons, banners and baton-twirling. But the undoubted highlight is the title number, which sees Dolly make her grand return to restaurant the Harmonia Gardens. She descends the giant staircase like a star, and the song climaxes with a huge kick line, yet it’s also incredibly poignant as she is welcomed back by the kindly staff.

As Irene, Jenna Russell beautifully parallels Dolly’s journey. She puts palpable yearning into “Ribbons Down My Back”, but is also a very funny double act with Emily Lane’s cheerfully tactless Minnie. Andy Nyman is brilliant as the smugly self-assured Horace – who, of course, is no match for the indomitable Dolly.

Harry Hepple’s Cornelius sets hearts a-flutter with his gorgeous romantic crooning, especially in “It Only Takes A Moment”, while Tyrone Huntley is a sweetly eager Barnaby, and Emily Langham is a scene-stealer as Horace’s permanently hysterical daughter. The big numbers are exceptionally well built out by a fleet-footed ensemble.

Every element is pitch-perfect, from Rae Smith’s delectable costumes (the twirling parasols of “Put On Your Sunday Clothes”; Dolly’s comeback attire, bristling with emerald feathers) to Bill Deamer’s dreamy choreography (the waiters pirouetting while holding silver trays aloft). It’s like a Golden Age MGM movie come to life.

There’s even a heartfelt message about social equality. Ephraim believed in spreading money around, and Dolly is going to see to it that Horace’s fortune is shared too. Well, this giddily magnificent, life-affirming production will certainly spread joy. Wow wow wow, fellas: it’s not just the smash hit of the summer – it’s the show of the year.

Hello, Dolly! is at the London Palladium through 14 September. Book Hello, Dolly! tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: Hello, Dolly! (Photos by Manuel Harlan)