Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Bette Midler Will Return To Star In ‘Hello Dolly’ On Broadway

Promise you’ll never go away again, Bette!

The 2017 Tony Award winner for the titular role in “Hello, Dolly” will return to the Broadway stage for the final weeks of the production she made a smash hit. Bette Midler, who received rave reviews last year for her portrayal of Dolly Levi opposite David Hyde Pierce, will resume her role for the final six weeks of the revival’s Broadway run. Hyde Pierce will also resume his role, replacing Victor Garber. Midler will retake the reigns from Bernadette Peters, who took over the role from Midler in April.

“Hello, Dolly!” producer Scott Rudin announced that the show will close on August 25, after playing for 17 months. The production, which also won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will go on to tour the country beginning in October, with “Cats” legend Betty Buckley in the title role.

For this, the fourth Broadway revival of the 1964 production, Midler was heralded as one of the great Dolly Gallagher Levis of all time.

It will be so nice to have her back where she belongs.

via GIPHY

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.