Bette Midler's 'Hello, Dolly!' Broadway Revival Breaks Sales Records

Bette Midler will bring the character of matchmaker Dolly Levi to Broadway next spring in a “Hello, Dolly!” revival, but the production is already breaking sales records.

Midler’s rendition produced by Scott Rudin and directed by Jerry Zaks, saw first-day advance ticket sales of over $9 million, which is the most of any Broadway show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It previews at the Schubert Theatre March 15th, with the show officially opening on April 20.

David Hyde Pierce (“Frasier”) will star opposite Midler, and other actors include Gavin Creel, Kate Baldwin, and Will Burton. The show is one of three being produced by Rudin this season—the other two are “The Front Page” with Nathan Lane and John Goodman and “The Glass Menagerie” with Sally Field.

“We are thrilled with the tremendous response from “Hello, Dolly!” ticket-buyers,” said Philip J. Smith and Robert E. Wankel, chairman and president of The Schubert Organization, in a statement to People magazine. “The combination of this show and Bette Midler has proven irresistible to theatergoers.”

The Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman musical tells the story of gregarious matchmaker Dolly Levi and her attempts to find her own “half-a-millionaire” husband. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1964 with Carol Channing as Dolly. The 1969 film version starring Barbara Streisand in the title role won three Oscars and was nominated for four more.

Midler has been a singer, actress and comedienne for nearly half a century and has won three Grammy awards, four Golden Globes, two Emmys, and a Tony Award. She has sold more than 35 million records worldwide and has had many chart-topping hits including “The Wind Beneath My Wings” and “From a Distance.”

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