Bette Midler has been nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly.

The 71 year-old star was nominated for Best Leading Actress for her first-ever lead role in a Broadway musical, and is favourite to pick up the award at the ceremony on June 11.

Speaking to BroadwayWorld about the nomination she said: "I am so delighted and proud to be nominated for a Tony Award, and I hope to hell I win.”

She added: “And if I don't, I will still have had the most extraordinary experience of my career playing that damned exasperating woman, Dolly Gallagher Levi, in one of the greatest productions of Hello, Dolly this old world has ever seen.

“I'm very grateful to the American Theater Wing and the Broadway League and most especially to everyone at the Shubert Theatre who makes me look so good every single night."

The 1964 musical is based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which he revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955.

Reviewers have praised the unashamedly old-fashioned production, although Ms Midler’s voice has been described as sometimes raspy.

She is up against two popular Broadway actresses – Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole.

The pair star together in War Paint, a musical about the rivalry of cosmetics entrepreneurs Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein.

Ms Midler, who hails from a small town in Hawaii, has already won a string of awards including a special Tony Award, three Grammys, four Golden Globes, and three Emmy Awards.