Stage Writes
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How Bette Midler became Dolly, according to David Hyde Pierce
In 2017, Bette Midler seemed to be back where she belongs.
As Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly!, Bette Midler won the 2017 Tony Award for best actress in a leading role in a musical, among numerous other awards, and helped the musical break the Shubert Theatre’s box office record 12 times. Even before Midler began performances, Hello, Dolly! brought in the largest pre-performance advance sale in Broadway history.
Bette Midler won the 2017 Tony Award for best actress in a musical. (Photo by Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan)
Because of her impact on the industry, Broadway Briefing, the theater industry newsletter owned by the publisher of Broadway News, selected Midler as the 2017 Broadway Showperson of the Year, an honor presented to “the person or persons who most influenced Broadway this year.”
In the Briefing, David Hyde Pierce wrote about how his co-star developed the role: click here for the Broadway.News article.