Tuesday, June 23, 2026

First Image: Bette Midler Starts Tonight in “Hello, Dolly!” with Biggest Advance in History

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This is the first image of Bette Midler as Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!” The musical with the biggest advance in history starts tonight with a dress rehearsal. Official previews begin tomorrow night. When I was a kid we saw Ethel Merman on Broadway. Subsequently I also saw Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey.  Barbra Streisand was miscast in the movie version, which was a huge bust. (She was too young.) Now comes Bette. If this isn’t perfect Broadway casting, then what is? And Donna Murphy fills in for her on matinees, maybe takes over when Bette leaves. It’s all good! We’re back at the Harmonia Gardens restaurant on 14th Street, where now there’s a Best Buy and an NYU dorm. Never forget!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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