Latest news with #HelloDolly
Los Angeles Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Miss Clair Voyance presents a drag parody to die for in Costa Mesa
When drag entertainer Miss Clair Voyance launched Broadway Divas at Segerstrom Center for the Arts nearly three years ago, she was not entirely sure how the self-described 'off off off off off Broadway' production would be received by local audiences. 'We didn't know if it was going to be a one-off thing; if it would be met with a positive response or negative reaction,' said Voyance, who grew up in Huntington Beach before earning a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater. To the delight of Voyance and the rest of the Broadway Divas cast, the show became a hit and found a new following. While Voyance anticipated audiences similar to the ones that followed acts like hers at drag clubs and bars, seats were instead filled with Segerstrom's regular theater goers. 'When I would look out at the crowd, I would think 'Oh I don't think you would be out at Hamburger Mary's on a Saturday night' but they showed up for the show and they came back again and again,' Voyance said. After the third performance, which closed with a number from 'Hello Dolly,' Voyance said she was approached by a white-haired woman using a walker. 'She said she saw 'Hello Dolly' on Broadway with Carol Channing and she said 'this brought me back to that' and that is a lot of the reaction we have gotten from our patrons,' said Voyance. 'It is this really special phenomenon that has occurred where we get to relate with an audience base we would never have direct contact with otherwise.' On Sunday, July 13, 'Broadway Divas' returns to the Samueli Theater with an all-star drag cast that includes Voyance, Leeko Rae, April Showers, Mama St. Merman and Dolly Levil, who will all perform songs from the Broadway songbook in full cabaret style. This time, the cast will present a double header, with shows at 1 and 5 p.m. and even more elaborate costumes, sets and songs. 'I want audiences to experience a drag show that will ruin all other drag shows for them,' Voyance said with a laugh. 'That has always been our little joke about Broadway Divas; it's hard to see other shows after because of the spectacle we put into it.' While Broadway Divas always started out as ambitious, in the years since its inception the show strives to become even better. After several sold-out drag brunches at Segerstrom, Voyance formed her own production company to develop the production value of the show and push the boundaries of what a drag show can accomplish. 'By doing Broadway Divas, I created Voyance Productions LLC. We are a fully formed production company, doing not just the shows at Segerstrom, but all over Southern California and touring things and doing the Comic-Cons, ' Voyance said. 'We have an artistic director, choreographers on staff, additional directors, wig master and costume mistress.' At this month's show, they are eliminating the brunch (although there is still Champagne) and putting on a 70-minute show without intermission, twice. Audiences can look forward to songs from 'Pippin,' 'Moulin Rouge,' 'Smash' and 'Annie.' The Divas will also be including a song from 'Death Becomes Her' the musical, inspired by a trip to New York Voyance took with April Showers last fall to see the musical on Broadway. 'April and I went to New York and got to have this whole 'Death Becomes Her' weekend and see the show and it has just been in our DNA ever since,' said Voyance. 'So when it came time to plan this Broadway Divas, we decided to do our best tribute to the Broadway version of 'Death Becomes Her' and it truly is a from-the-bottom-of-our-hearts tribute.' As an added treat, Delta Work, the Emmy Award-winning drag performer and stylist, best known for her work on 'Ru Paul's Drag Race' and as a podcast host on 'Very That' and 'Very Delta' will be joining the cast as a special guest. 'She is an internet sensation and we are so excited to have her,' said Voyance. While Voyance and her team have worked to raise the stakes creatively, politically they couldn't be higher. Voyance began Broadway Divas at a time when some legislators were pushing bills that would restrict or in some cases criminalize drag shows. The social climate continues to be tumultuous, which Voyance believes makes drag shows more important than ever. 'Right now, where our country is and the state of the world in general, I want people to feel safe,' said Voyance. 'I want the doors to the theater to close, I want [the audience] to not think about the news and have an hour and half that is just going to make them laugh, or move them. As soon as the show is over we go back to reality, but this is a small pocket where we can suspend that. That is really important to us.' After Broadway Divas, Voyance and her team will return to Segerstrom for spooky season, hosting the Rocky Horror Picture Show pre-show event. While Voyance strives to make Broadway Divas bigger and bolder than ever, she knows the work is also a form of protest for the cast and the audience. 'Existing right now is a form of resistance. My cast, we are all under the queer umbrella and you showing up and supporting us is an act of resistance.' Broadway Divas performs in the Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa on July 13 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.. Tickets, which start at $33.90, are available at and include a complimentary glass of Champagne (21+) and the opportunity to meet the queens after the show.
Telegraph
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Why I hate giving standing ovations
You could have fried an egg on my face. I felt awkward, embarrassed and rude; but even as everyone around me steadily rose to their feet, I stayed put and applauded from my seat. It was the curtain call for The Great Gatsby (the musical currently playing at the London Coliseum) and most of the audience were standing to give a standing ovation. But even as every bone in my British body told me to get up with everyone else, I was determined not to stand up for a show that I just didn't think was very good. In the last couple of years, almost every show I've seen onstage – musicals and plays alike – has seen audiences routinely rising to their feet at the end. In fact, these days, the only thing rarer than getting a standing ovation at the theatre is…well, not getting a standing ovation. 'They happen so often now that you're very aware when they don't happen,' says musical theatre star Jenna Russell (Hello, Dolly!, Flowers For Mrs Harris), who agrees the standing ovation – once a rare honour – has 'become the norm' in all genres of theatre. I love to give a standing ovation – but I want to do it when I really, truly mean it. I want to reserve my standing ovations for when I feel like my life has been changed in some way by what I've just seen, or when I've had tears pouring down my face from the beauty or impact of the performances. Last year, I jumped to my feet at the end of Hello, Dolly! at the London Palladium, when I had emotions I couldn't even name coursing through me. I also couldn't stand up quickly enough at the curtain call for the West End's Cabaret in January – I can't imagine a day when it won't be one of the best pieces of theatre I've ever seen. Most shows don't have this impact on me. And yet so often, I've ended up standing to applaud with the rest of the audience because I worry I'm sticking out like the bitterest of sore thumbs if I don't. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed most productions I've seen; but enjoying a show doesn't mean I want to give it a standing ovation. Getting to my feet for something that hasn't really moved me feels like I'm diminishing the standing ovations I've given to shows that have moved me beyond belief. So I've made a vow to stop following the crowd, and to have more confidence in how I feel – which, more often than not, will likely mean staying seated while everyone else stands up. Are we being manipulated? In a way. Musical theatre star Charlie Stemp (Kiss Me Kate, Half a Sixpence), tells me that curtain calls – especially in modern musicals – are often the most choreographed part of the show. 'Most shows design their bows around getting a standing ovation,' he tells me. 'The music will build as the curtain call goes on; it's literally designed to try and make you stand up.' If you've been lucky enough to score tickets to this summer's hottest show – Evita at the London Palladium – you'll likely have seen this in action. Actor Richard E. Grant was there on press night, and he later wrote on Instagram: 'In [five] decades of theatre going, I've never seen a performance with multiple standing ovations, topped off by the longest curtain call ever experienced'. Even Evita's magic hasn't worked on everyone; friends of mine saw the show a few weeks ago. 'I really didn't enjoy Evita,' one told me. 'I did stand up during the bows, partly to show appreciation [for] the work put in by the performers but mostly because I would have felt embarrassed and judged to stay sitting down. It does feel like standing ovations are now an obligation.' I have no issue with other people standing at the end if they've enjoyed a show – goodness knows, we need more collective joy at the moment, not to mention more support for the arts – it's the obligatory element I take issue with. The idea that, if you don't stand for a show at the end, that must mean: 1) you hated the show; and 2) you're enormously rude for not standing up anyway. It was this social pressure that made me feel so embarrassed at the end of The Great Gatsby; but I'm determined to stop giving in to it. Of course, there's a hefty chunk of privilege with all this. I'm very fortunate to live in London and to see multiple shows a year; that's not the case for many. Theatre is prohibitively expensive; and if you've travelled hundreds of miles and spent hundreds of pounds, then of course you should give a standing ovation if you want to. 'I did a panto,' says musical theatre star Marisha Wallace (Cabaret, Guys & Dolls), 'and that's a very good example of people saving money the whole year to come to one show – and baby, they're gonna stand! They've saved all their money; they're just so excited to be there.' Russell points out that performers always know one type of standing ovation from another. 'You can feel when it's spontaneous,' she says. 'We're totally aware. And that has a different effect to seeing people go, 'Oh God, here we go, [let's] stand up'.' Stemp, too, knows the difference – he cites Chichester Festival Theatre as his favourite place to perform, because the audience tends to be within an older age range, and so the standing ovations are far more special. 'I think older generations reserve that large display of affection; so when you get [a standing ovation] in a place that has those old-school values, it means so much more,' he says. 'I'll never forget watching an old man turn to the person next to him [to ask for his help in getting up] so he could applaud a show that I was in. It's the most beautiful thing in the world to see.' It's reassuring to know that performers know the difference between a spontaneous standing ovation and an obligatory one; but that doesn't mean I'm ready to let go of my own personal definition of standing ovations being a rare show of appreciation for a show that, quite simply, isn't like the others. If all reviewers gave five stars to every single production, the reviewing system would be rendered completely meaningless. By that same token, I feel that if I give a standing ovation to every show I ever see, I'm never really giving a standing ovation to any show at all. And, given the immense quality of some productions out there, that feels like a real shame. So I'm (ironically) taking a stand against automatic, obligatory standing ovations. Unless a show's moved me beyond words (and merely clapping), I'll be applauding from my seat. And Marisha Wallace, for one, is fine with that. 'We have so many rules and pre-conceived notions of etiquette,' she says. 'For us to judge the audience…I don't think we can do that. I don't think we have that right. If you don't want to stand, don't stand. And if you like to stand, stand up. I just hate that people judge [others] either way. Let people feel the art the way they want to feel it.'
New York Times
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
In ‘The Matchmaker,' Meet Dolly Levi Before She Was ‘Dolly!'
Though Thornton Wilder's rarely performed play 'The Matchmaker' is not a musical, it's nevertheless a great pleasure for musical theater lovers. That's only partly because so much of its dialogue sounds unexpectedly familiar if you know 'Hello, Dolly!' — the 1964 blockbuster built on its bones. Lines that the songwriter Jerry Herman turned into lyrics, barely having to alter a word, keep popping up in Wilder's script like old friends at a crowded party. 'I am a woman who arranges things,' says Dolly Levi, the good-hearted widow who's up in everyone's business. 'Go and get your Sunday clothes on,' says Cornelius Hackl, the 38-year-old Yonkers clerk who devises a plan for adventure in New York City. 'This summer we'll be wearing ribbons down our backs,' says Irene Molloy, the milliner he falls in love with there. But even beyond the spark of recognition that has you humming along with the script, 'The Matchmaker,' now enjoying a fine revival at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Garrison, N.Y., is a musical lover's delight, besotted with song. Wilder frequently calls for his characters to sing and dance to popular favorites of the period, roughly the 1880s. 'The Sidewalks of New York,' the 'Les Patineurs' waltz and others decorate and turn the plot while also dramatizing the play's central theme: the necessity of engaging in the culture of one's time. This production, directed with high spirits by Davis McCallum, ups the musical ante. Beneath the festival's open-sided tent in a dell on the grounds of a former golf course, a three-piece band (fiddle, banjo, accordion) plays on a platform above the action. The Hudson Valley setting is neatly invoked at the start by a poem Wilder wrote for 'The Merchant of Yonkers' — a 'Matchmaker' predecessor — set charmingly to music by Alex Bechtel. 'The Map of New York,' another Bechtel song, is the aural equivalent of sepia rotogravure. But the play is hardly old-fashioned — or to put it another way, it's eternal. (Wilder, the author of 'Our Town,' is always interested in the eternities.) No surprise there; the story has a provenance going back via England and Germany to the Greeks and Romans. Dolly (Nance Williamson, looking a bit like Bette Midler) is a jollier version of the parasite character of ancient comedy, who through flattery and persistence attains a place at the rich man's table. In this case, the rich man is Horace Vandergelder (Kurt Rhoads), a Yonkers merchant whose half-million dollars, hoarded and fondled but otherwise never touched, do nothing for the world. Though Dolly finagles to land Vandergelder and cure his miserliness, you understand from the start that she is not meddling merely for her own gain. She also seeks to match the impoverished Cornelius (Carl Howell) to the widowed Irene (Helen Cespedes), and to marry Vandergelder's niece (Anvita Gattani) to a painter (Blaize Adler-Ivanbrook) whom the blowhard merchant derides as unpromising. ('You artists produce something nobody needs at any time,' he thunders.) If Dolly must bend the truth to reach these ends — she invents a young woman named Ernestina Simple, then makes her disappear opportunely — she does so in part, as she explains with good cheer, because life should be exciting and people must live in it. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Contestants sought for new ITV quiz show with £1million jackpot
A nationwide search is under way for contestants to join a new Saturday night quiz show. The ITV1 and ITVX series, Win Win with People's Postcode Lottery, will be hosted by comedy duo Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. Producers are looking for "fun, enthusiastic" individuals with standout personalities to take part in the six-week series. The show's producers are seeking contestants for the new series (Image: Supplied) The show will be filmed in studio and will involve survey-based questions. A total of 40 contestants will take part in each episode. Mel Giedroyc said: "This quiz is so extra. "Imagine winning something like a car just by playing along with a gameshow you're watching on a Saturday night in your pyjamas? "I can't wait." Sue Perkins said: "If I wasn't hosting this, I'd be playing it at home; sat in my leopard print onesie, cuddling the dog whilst trying to figure out the nation's favourite chocolate bar. "Bring it on." Viewers at home will have the chance to win the same prizes as those in the studio. One contestant will also walk away with a guaranteed £1 million jackpot. Other prizes on offer include holidays, luxury cars, and tickets to major sporting and entertainment events. The ITV series is produced by Hello Dolly, and is described as the broadcaster's biggest-ever ad-funded series. It has been co-funded by People's Postcode Lottery and will air on Saturday nights. Katie Rawcliffe, director of entertainment and daytime at ITV, said: "We are delighted to have the brilliant Mel and Sue bringing this new format to life. "Forget shouting at the telly or rowing with your family about the answers – you can actually join in and be in with a chance of winning the same prize you're seeing on screen." Bhavit Chandrani, director of BE Studio from ITV, said: "This is our biggest ad-funded show yet and we're thrilled that by working with People's Postcode Lottery and Hello Dolly we're able to deliver such an interactive programme for viewers, who have real chances of bagging the same huge prizes they're seeing contestants win, from the comfort of their sofas." Imme Rog, executive board member of the Postcode Lottery Group, said: "We have 35 years of experience in creating and promoting successful TV formats in our other countries, and we are delighted to be partnering with Hello Dolly and ITV in bringing Win Win with People's Postcode Lottery to the British prime-time audience." READ MORE: Get to know Sophie from Darwen ahead of her Love Island appearance EastEnders star leaving with 'head held high' after shock soap exit news The Voice UK announces new coach with 'fantastic' track record for next series Victoria Ashbourne, CEO of Hello Dolly and executive producer, said: "We are thrilled to be working with People's Postcode Lottery and ITV to bring this innovative and exciting new format to life. "For the first time ever, viewers at home get the same winning experience as the contestants in studio – as a programme creator and producer that is super exciting." Casting is open now for applicants who are available to take part in the studio each week during the six-week series. The show promises a mix of humour, drama, and life-changing decisions.
North Wales Chronicle
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- North Wales Chronicle
ITV game show hosted by Mel & Sue looking for contestants
They are hoping to find "fun" and "enthusiastic" people for the programme, which is called Win Win. Made in collaboration with the People's Postcode Lottery, "contestants with larger-than-life personalities" will need to be available to appear in the studio every week for six weeks. In a statement, ITV said: "Prizes are likely to include dream holidays, cars and once-in-a-lifetime sporting & entertainment experiences. Win Win is looking for contestants with a 'larger-than-life' personality (Image: Hello Dolly/ITV) "The series also builds to an epic finale where one contestant is GUARANTEED TO WIN at least ONE MILLION POUNDS." While you won't need great general knowledge to be on the programme, common sense will definitely be an advantage. All the questions will revolve around the responses given to a massive survey of the Great British public "revealing how we behave and what we think about all aspects of life". If you want to apply for the game show, you can do so on the website here. The deadline for applications is Monday, June 30, and applicants must be over the age of 18. Part of the process will require the applicant to upload a 2-3 minute video sharing some details about who they are and some interesting facts about themselves. Giving further details, the broadcaster said: "We would encourage you to complete your application as soon as you can, as auditions start immediately. Any applications received after this deadline may not be considered. Recommended reading: Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer reveals she nearly landed this iconic Emmerdale role BBC bosses issue statement on future of Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor Who amid reports EastEnders fans 'gutted' as last remaining BBC soap family member to exit "Only fully completed applications that have an uploaded application video will be considered. "Should we wish to progress your application further, a member of the casting team will be in touch." If you need any help completing your application, please get in touch at casting@
