Sonoma Arts Live
Runs through October 21, 2018

Hello, Dolly! (book by Michael Stewart, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman) has now been staged thousands of times the world over, including four Broadway revivals since its first outing in 1964, multiple touring productions, several West End productions, and countless regional and educational shows. The awards won is a list as long as your arm. The list of performers who have played Dolly is equally long, and reads like a Who’s Who of female stars of stage and screen in any given decade, including Carol Channing, Ginger Rogers, Mary Martin, Barbra Streisand, Pearl Bailey, Betty Grable, Ethel Merman, Dorothy Lamour, Eve Arden, and Bette Midler, just to name a few. Now, you must add the name of Dani Innocenti Beem, who thoroughly deserves to be named in that stellar company for the absolutely terrific performance she gives in the title role of the show presented by Sonoma Arts Live.

Beem’s adept comic skills, particularly her wise-cracking, dry humor, combined with her classic Broadway-style belt, add up to a brilliant portrayal of the iconic Dolly Levi, the widowed matchmaker from Yonkers. Happily, her star turn is ably supported by a talented and enthusiastic cast of seasoned locals who know how to strut their stuff and deliver first-class entertainment. A plethora of technical woes marred the opening, but the cast rose to the fray and pulled out all stops to earn a well-deserved standing ovation. …

To continue reading about this production, see the full review at Talkin’Broadway:
Hello, Dolly!