Carol Channing in "Hello, Dolly!" (1996)
Although Hello, Dolly! might not have been the very last musical of the golden age of Broadway, in a way it was. This is because the creator of the title role, Carol Channing, played the role on and off from 1964 to 1997, totaling in over 5,000 performances for Channing in the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi. Every time Carol Channing returned to the role, she was able to restore a small piece of the golden age of Broadway. Towards the end of Channing's final run as Dolly Levi, her final touring production of the show was professionally filmed in Melbourne, Florida. Although this filmed version of the show was never commercially released, it can be viewed on YouTube for ages to come.
Hello, Dolly! is a musical comedy that is based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker and tells the story of a widow named Dolly Gallagher Levi who intends on marrying the well known half a billionaire, Horace Vandergelder. Also in the mix are Vandergelder's employees, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, who disobey his orders and travel to New York City for one day of adventure and romance.
At the time this touring production was filmed, Carol Channing was 75. This surely brings up questions for some people. "Can she remember all the lines?". "Isn't she bored with the role by now?", "Will she bust a hip onstage?" Well the answer to those questions is simple, even at 75, CAROL STILL HAD IT. Even after all of those years, nothing about Channing's performance felt robotic or phoned in. She was giving her 110% just like everyone said she did every single night. Channing's performance is charismatic, funny, and splendid. She really was a cartoon character and won the audience over in a second. Each of her monologues with her late husband, Ephriam Levi, were really quite touching and heartwarming. Although she really did having this role down to a wonderful science, she did have some rougher moments (This is directed at the song So Long, Dearie). However, those moments that weren't as strong as they were in 1964 didn't take anything away from her performance, which really speaks to how delightful she was in this role.
Playing opposite Carol Channing was Herman Petras as Horace Vandergelder. Similiar to the way Channing plays Dolly, which is cartoon-y. Petras and Channing play off of each other very well and share a wonderful chemistry. Although you never see the two of them truly fall in love, by the end of the show you just can't imagine them with out each other. Lee Roy Reams (The director of this production) played the role of Cornelius Hackl quite well and was paired adorably with Jeanne Lehman (Irene Molloy, Cornelius' love interest) and Scott Bridges as Barnaby Tucker. The cast of this production was quite a treat and it never felt like anyone was lagging behind Carol Channing's star power.
As with most productions of Hello, Dolly!, this tour employed the original staging and choregraphy of Gower Champion (The revival currently playing on Broadway only uses Champion's choreography). This is easily one of the best staged shows ever, so it's easy to see why we always come back to this direction of the show. Any other staging of the showstopper, Put On Your Sunday Clothes, just wouldn't feel right. If I'm not mistaken, a part of the reason this production was filmed was so future productions would have a little bit more of a blueprint rather than just the blocking notes. I also must add that Gower Champion is amazing at scene changes. For example, when Irene's employee, Minnie Fay (played by the hilarious Monica Lee Gradischek) can't get the door to Irene's hat shop open, Irene tells Minnie simply to "Push!" and then the two of them proceed to push the hat shop around to reveal the interior. It is absolutely hilarious. It is also worth mentioning that Oliver Smith's original set designs remained in tact for this production.
Seeing as how Carol Channing was passed over for Barbra Streisand for the movie version of the show, I truly am glad Channing's performance was preserved on video for everyone to watch. It really is important that performances like these are captured for future generations to view. Right now, a brilliant new revival of Hello, Dolly! can be seen at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. I really urge everyone to see this show if they are in New York City. We are living in the new golden age of musical theatre and it's just so amazing that this musical from the original golden age is back to introduce this show to new audiences. Bernadette Peters was just announced to take over the role of Dolly Levi on Broadway from Bette Midler, and while I am EXTREMELY excited for that, I still can't help but hope that the now 96 year old Carol Channing will return to the show for one final go at the role...
HELLO, DOLLY!
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Book by Michael Stewart
The cast of this production of HELLO DOLLY consisted of:
Dolly Gallagher Levi- CAROL CHANNING
Horace Vandergelder- HERMAN PETRAS
Cornelius Hackl- LEE ROY REAMS
Barnaby Tucker- SCOTT BRIDGES
Irene Molloy- JEANNE LEHMAN
Minnie Fay- MONICA LEE GRADISCHEK
Ambrose Kemper- JAMES DARRAH
Ermengarde- CHRISTINE DeVITO
Ernestina- MONICA M. WEMMITT
Rudolph- ROGER PRESTON SMITH
For information on the current revival of HELLO, DOLLY!, which stars BETTE MIDLER with BERNADETTE PETERS set to join on January 20, please visit: http://hellodollyonbroadway.com/
Hello, Dolly! is a musical comedy that is based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker and tells the story of a widow named Dolly Gallagher Levi who intends on marrying the well known half a billionaire, Horace Vandergelder. Also in the mix are Vandergelder's employees, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, who disobey his orders and travel to New York City for one day of adventure and romance.
At the time this touring production was filmed, Carol Channing was 75. This surely brings up questions for some people. "Can she remember all the lines?". "Isn't she bored with the role by now?", "Will she bust a hip onstage?" Well the answer to those questions is simple, even at 75, CAROL STILL HAD IT. Even after all of those years, nothing about Channing's performance felt robotic or phoned in. She was giving her 110% just like everyone said she did every single night. Channing's performance is charismatic, funny, and splendid. She really was a cartoon character and won the audience over in a second. Each of her monologues with her late husband, Ephriam Levi, were really quite touching and heartwarming. Although she really did having this role down to a wonderful science, she did have some rougher moments (This is directed at the song So Long, Dearie). However, those moments that weren't as strong as they were in 1964 didn't take anything away from her performance, which really speaks to how delightful she was in this role.
Playing opposite Carol Channing was Herman Petras as Horace Vandergelder. Similiar to the way Channing plays Dolly, which is cartoon-y. Petras and Channing play off of each other very well and share a wonderful chemistry. Although you never see the two of them truly fall in love, by the end of the show you just can't imagine them with out each other. Lee Roy Reams (The director of this production) played the role of Cornelius Hackl quite well and was paired adorably with Jeanne Lehman (Irene Molloy, Cornelius' love interest) and Scott Bridges as Barnaby Tucker. The cast of this production was quite a treat and it never felt like anyone was lagging behind Carol Channing's star power.
As with most productions of Hello, Dolly!, this tour employed the original staging and choregraphy of Gower Champion (The revival currently playing on Broadway only uses Champion's choreography). This is easily one of the best staged shows ever, so it's easy to see why we always come back to this direction of the show. Any other staging of the showstopper, Put On Your Sunday Clothes, just wouldn't feel right. If I'm not mistaken, a part of the reason this production was filmed was so future productions would have a little bit more of a blueprint rather than just the blocking notes. I also must add that Gower Champion is amazing at scene changes. For example, when Irene's employee, Minnie Fay (played by the hilarious Monica Lee Gradischek) can't get the door to Irene's hat shop open, Irene tells Minnie simply to "Push!" and then the two of them proceed to push the hat shop around to reveal the interior. It is absolutely hilarious. It is also worth mentioning that Oliver Smith's original set designs remained in tact for this production.
Seeing as how Carol Channing was passed over for Barbra Streisand for the movie version of the show, I truly am glad Channing's performance was preserved on video for everyone to watch. It really is important that performances like these are captured for future generations to view. Right now, a brilliant new revival of Hello, Dolly! can be seen at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. I really urge everyone to see this show if they are in New York City. We are living in the new golden age of musical theatre and it's just so amazing that this musical from the original golden age is back to introduce this show to new audiences. Bernadette Peters was just announced to take over the role of Dolly Levi on Broadway from Bette Midler, and while I am EXTREMELY excited for that, I still can't help but hope that the now 96 year old Carol Channing will return to the show for one final go at the role...
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Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Book by Michael Stewart
The cast of this production of HELLO DOLLY consisted of:
Dolly Gallagher Levi- CAROL CHANNING
Horace Vandergelder- HERMAN PETRAS
Cornelius Hackl- LEE ROY REAMS
Barnaby Tucker- SCOTT BRIDGES
Irene Molloy- JEANNE LEHMAN
Minnie Fay- MONICA LEE GRADISCHEK
Ambrose Kemper- JAMES DARRAH
Ermengarde- CHRISTINE DeVITO
Ernestina- MONICA M. WEMMITT
Rudolph- ROGER PRESTON SMITH
For information on the current revival of HELLO, DOLLY!, which stars BETTE MIDLER with BERNADETTE PETERS set to join on January 20, please visit: http://hellodollyonbroadway.com/
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