The actor will join previously announced star Bette in the Broadway production, producer Scott Rudin said on Tuesday (17May16).

Based on Thornton Wilder’s farce The Matchmaker, Hello, Dolly! kicked off on Broadway in 1964 with Carol Channing in the title role. The show, which centres on the efforts of matchmaker Dolly Levi to find a mate for the cantankerous but wealthy Horace Vandergelder, won 10 Tony Awards and ran for seven years.

David, 57, is best known for playing the psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on NBC’s Frasier, for which he won four Emmy Awards for. However, he is no stranger to the theatre scene, with stage credits under his belt including Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, La Bete and Spamalot. He is also a Tony winner for the 2007 show Curtains and directed the 2015 Broadway musical It Shoulda Been You.

Bette, 70, who won a special Tony award in 1974, last appeared on Broadway in 2013 in the hit one-woman drama I’ll Eat You Last, proving she continues to be a force to be reckoned with.

Four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks will direct the new version of the beloved musical, which features a score by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart. Tony winner Warren Carlyle will choreograph the show, paying tribute to director-choreographer Gower Champion's original staging. Casting for other central roles is yet to be announced.

Hello, Dolly! was last performed on Broadway in 1995, which was headlined by original star Carol Channing. A 1969 film adaptation starred Barbra Streisand in the titular role.

The revival will begin preview performances on 13 May next year (17), and will officially open on 20 April at New York's Shubert Theatre.