In Dominic Cooke’s stupendous production of Hello, Dolly! at the London Palladium, Dolly returns from Yonkers to New York, her hometown, and visits Harmonia Gardens, her favorite restaurant. Attendants dance in claret colored tails, each carrying a silver pan as if it were a trophy, and are excited as soon as they hear she is on her way. Like Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s musicals themselves, they are light on their feet, and this moving scene reinforces the show’s lively fantasy that through sheer force of personality anyone can become someone, that an old – or middle-aged – woman can turn . out to be a dynamo, a fixer, a star turn. Far from age making a woman invisible, Hello Dolly!based on the 1938 Thornton Wilder farce, mastered by hi-vis, Imelda Staunton plays Dolly to perfection.
Staunton’s star quality – she shines in her queen-like emerald ball gown that appropriately descends the restaurant’s golden staircase – rests on her uncanny ability to remain real and sincere, no matter how much is going on around her. Naturalness and enthusiasm make her one to watch. She gives us a Dolly who rejoices in being herself, but whose eyes fill with tears every time she consults her philanthropic husband who is gone from us (she is a marriage broker, secretly arranging her own second marriage). . Dolly’s quarry is grumpy millionaire Horace Vandergelder – entertainingly portrayed by Andy Nyman. But Staunton makes sure that scheming doesn’t dampen the mood, and he gives a stunning – melancholic but determined – performance of Before the Parade Passes by at the end of the first half, about catching happiness while it’s still there.
Rae Smith’s set is very interesting with scenes of late 19th century New York, flower wagons and even a steam train. A traveler allows the team, when appropriate, to cross the stage (Bill Deamer is the divine choreographer), but there are also exciting moments when Dolly turns. literally into a showstopper and everyone else is statue-still as she sings. Irene Molloy, another delightful widow is Jenna Russell.
The song It Takes a Woman has to be the comedy hit of the show. The men gather en masse and energetically sing the lazy song about leaving it to a woman to run the house, clear the drains and so on. But the unspoken implication of this performance is clear: Dolly does not intend to be one of the song’s lovely ladies with plenty of elbow grease. She is no Cinderella. She is more likely to organize her own transport to the ball after not washing up.
The washing up is to the point in Katori Hall’s 2021 Pulitzer prize winning comedy King of Hot Wings. It’s always a pleasure to see a kitchen on stage. Think of Arnold Wesker The kitchenJohn Osborne’s Look Back in Anger or the fried eggs at the end of the National Theatre’s 2016 production of Terence Rattigan’s The deep blue sea. But King of Hot Wings celebrating a new generation of kitchen sink dramas. The kitchen has been upgraded: the sink is discreet, the sideboard marble, the hi-spec stove (designer Rajha Shakiry). Inside this cosmetically updated space, a team of five black gay men is preparing sauce for the chicken wing (AKA “hot wangs”) competition held annually in Memphis, Tennessee.
This is an entertaining yet sensitive exploration of the challenges of gay masculinity. It raises questions about how to be a good father, uncle, lover, son. It takes its own time, running almost three hours but allowing for fun that adds to the illusion that the action is taking place in real time. There is tenderness, sparring, good-natured mischievousness, bursts of dancing and – high point – a harmonious rendition, in turn, of Never Too Much by Luther Vandross.
Cordell, the head chef (unemployed, unlike his other half) is real, energetic but unsure of himself. Kadiff Kirwan plays him brilliantly, dressed in a short blue-and-white chef’s apron (saucy in every sense). He left his wife and two sons, having fallen helplessly in love with dapper Dwayne (Simon-Anthony Rhoden, who sings like a dream).
There are no spoilers on what happens to the sauce, but the plot thickens with the arrival of the teenager Dwayne’s nephew, Everett, whose mother died tragically (Kaireece Denton played him with an exciting combination of innocence and street wisdom). Dwayne feels responsible for his nephew but does not consult Cordell before giving him a room in his house. There is great support from sous chef Isom (Olisa Odele) and great wisdom from Big Charles (Jason Barnett). Meanwhile, Dwayne’s drug-dealing father, TJ (a brilliant performance by Dwayne Walcott), gives us a straight version of struggling masculinity. Directed by Roy Alexander Weise, this is a heartwarming, fresh and new show, with simmering emotions on the horizon. Stay in the kitchen – as long as you can stand the heat.
Because of the ecstatic reception of it Fan girls on press night, I’m probably in the minority in failing to describe myself as a fan. The popular Aussie musical (2019) is now in its British incarnation by its original director, Paige Rattray. Writer (lyricist and composer as well) Yve Blake aims to explore how stripping helps girls find – and lose – themselves. While the idea is valid, it’s a big ask to expect it to support an entire show filled with bland pop music and shriekathons from the girls themselves.
However, it has a split cast. Harry is perfectly judged by Thomas Grant (inspired, one assumes, by Harry Styles), with a clean look, floppy fringe and puppy dog eyes. His image continues to grow on pillowcases – the closest thing his fans get to sleeping with. Jasmine Elcock makes a great and heartfelt debut as Edna, the 14-year-old girl who tries to make her fantasies come true (be careful what you wish for – importing your hero into your girlfriend’s bedroom might not work school as planned). But in trying to understand teenage girls, the show tends to patronize them. I couldn’t help but notice that it’s the uneducated middle-aged mother (Debbie Kurup) who saves the day – as if Blake was on her side.
Star ratings (out of five)
Hello, Dolly! ★★★★★
King of Hot Wings ★★★★
Fan girls ★★