Bette Midler, who earned a Tony Award for her star turn in Hello, Dolly!, will return to the Broadway production this summer. She’ll play a limited engagement July 17 through August 25, at which point the Tony-winning revival will close.
Midler will succeed Bernadette Peters, who stepped into the title role of Dolly Gallagher Levi at the Shubert Theatre beginning January 20. Peters will take her final bow July 15.
Also set to return to the show are Midler’s original co-stars David Hyde Pierce as Horace Vandergelder (currently played by Victor Garber) and Gavin Creel, who won a Tony for his performance as Cornelius Hackl. Creel left the show in February to recover from back surgery; Santino Fontana has filled in temporarily.
Tickets for the production’s final six weeks will go on sale April 28.
The current cast also includes Kate Baldwin as Irene Molloy, Charlie Stemp as Barnaby Tucker, Molly Griggs as Minnie Fay, Will Burton as Ambrose Kemper, Melanie Moore as Ermengarde, and Alli Mauzey as Ernestina.
The Jerry Zaks-helmed revival officially opened April 20, 2017.
Midler’s original run brought multiple box office highs and shattered records (including the highest pre-performance advance in Broadway history) to both the Shubert Theatre and Organization as a whole. In her final week, the Scott Rudin production grossed nearly $2.5 million in seven performances, with proceeds from the eighth going to the Actors Fund.
A national tour, starring Tony winner Betty Buckley, will launch October 2 at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square.
