Broadway NewsBernadette Peters Will Succeed Bette Midler in Broadway's Hello, Dolly!The three-time Tony recipient will take on the title role of Dolly Gallagher Levi, joined by Tony nominee Victor Garber.
By
Ryan McPhee
September 05, 2017
Bernadette Peters
Andrew Eccles
Three-time Tony Award recipient Bernadette Peters will step into the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, taking over the role of title matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi from Bette Midler.
Peters will begin performances in the Tony-winning production at the Shubert Theatre January 20, 2018. As previously announced, Midler, who won a Tony for her star turn, will take her final bow January 14. The show will go dark between Midler's last performance and Peters' start.
Victor Garber will join Peters, assuming the role of Horace Vandergelder from Tony winner David Hyde Pierce.
Opening night for the two new leads is set for February 22. A block of tickets for performances featuring Peters and Garber will go on sale September 9 at 10 AM.
Peters last appeared on Broadway as Sally Durant Plummer in the 2011 revival of Follies. Her previous stint on the Great White Way was another engagement as a star replacement, when she stepped into A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt in 2010. She’s won Tony Awards for her performances in Annie Get Your Gun and Song and Dance; in 2013, she received the Tonys' honorary Isabelle Stevenson Award. She is also celebrated for her memorable turns in Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Gypsy (also at the Shubert).
On screen, Peters can currently be seen in the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle and CBS All Access’ The Good Fight.
Garber most recently starred on Broadway in the 2010 revival of Present Laughter. He previously earned Tony nominations for his performances in Damn Yankees, Lend Me a Tenor, Little Me, and Deathtrap. His additional Broadway credits include Sweeney Todd, Arcadia, and Art.
He is known on screen for roles in Titanic, Argo, and Sicario, as well as the TV series Alias (for which he received three Emmy nominations), Power, and as Dr. Martin Stein on both The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.
Peters and Garber both appeared in the 1997 TV adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella—as Cinderella's stepmother and King Maximillian, respectively.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to continue in the tradition of the incomparable Bette Midler, Carol Channing, and all of the other wonderful actresses who have played Dolly Levi, and I look forward to joining this wonderful company at the Shubert.”
Bette Midler
Julieta Cervantes
Midler added, “I cannot imagine leaving Dolly Levi in better hands than those of Bernadette Peters. She has created more historic roles in more legendary musicals than any living Broadway star, and most of the dead ones, too. I cannot wait to see her in the show from my very expensive premium seat in Row G which I know I will have to pay for. She is joining the greatest group of people I have ever worked with, and when my run in this amazing show— and in this amazing part—is over, I will miss all of them more than I can express. I know they will take care of her the way they have taken care of me—with the heart and generosity they have shown me since day one of rehearsal.”
In addition to Midler and Pierce, the current cast of the Jerry Zaks-helmed and Scott Rudin-produced Hello, Dolly! includes Gavin Creel, who won a Tony for his performance as Cornelius Hackl, Kate Baldwin as Irene Molloy, Dear Evan Hansen-bound Taylor Trensch as Barnaby Tucker, Beanie Feldstein as Minnie Fay, Will Burton as Ambrose Kemper, Melanie Moore as Ermengarde, and Tony nominee Jennifer Simard as Ernestina.
