Lloyd Webber Says Hello, Connie! in 2010???

Rumours are rife that Andrew Lloyd Webber is planning a West End revival of the enduringly popular Jerry Herman musical Hello, Dolly!, starring his How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? protégé Connie Fisher in the title role. Lloyd Webber reportedly let slip his plans recently whilst addressing journalists to promote his latest television project, BBC Eurovision talent-hunt Your Country Needs You.

It is thought the planned production is linked to Fisher's involvement in the forthcoming regional tour of the Lloyd Webber-produced revival of The Sound of Music, in which she will revive her role as Maria (See News, 26 Nov 2008). The Guardian suggested recently that Lloyd Webber would cast Fisher as a reward for rejoining the show, though due to the length of the tour, which kicks off in Cardiff in August, any planned production of Hello Dolly! would have to wait until mid-2010 at the earliest.

Hello, Dolly! premiered on Broadway in 1964, winning ten Tony awards including Best Musical. It successfully made the transition to the big screen in 1969 starring Barbara Streisand in the title role, winning three Oscars out of seven nominations. Based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 comic play The Merchant of Yonkers, the musical follows the story of Dolly Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to New York in an attempt to find a match for the wealthy but miserly bachelor Horace Vandergelder.

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