Happy Friday!
From Carol Channing’s Academy Award-nominated performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Happy Friday From Carol Channing
Sunday Showtune: “Hello, Dolly!”
I’ve been working hard in Boca Raton, Florida, this week where I’m choreographing Hello, Dolly! again with my partner in crime, Lee Roy Reams.
This time will be a little different, though, because Lee Roy is not only directing again but starring – as “Dolly Levi.”
This was the first week of rehearsals and this morning we do a crawl through of Act One. The dancers have been great picking up all the choreography, and working with Lewis Stadlen, James Clow and Susan Powell again on this show has made me laugh all week.
Next week we move on to Act Two, including the “big number” itself – “Hello Dolly.”
So I was in the mood to throw back to 1995 when I did this fab musical wonder with the original legend herself, Carol Channing.
Take a look below. I’m in there 🙂
Happy Sunday!
Carol Channing Wishes Boston ‘Happy 45th Gay Pride’
My dear, wonderful, singularly fabulous Carol Channing wishes Boston “Happy 45th Gay Pride.”
She is so fantastic. I’ve known the original “blond ambition” since 1994.
The Artist’s Challenge – Day Two
Day Two of the Artists Challenge – (For 5 days, 1 post each day, 1pic or several pics or video of your artistic journey so far. Each day nominate 2 people to join).
I have to include my first Broadway show – HELLO, DOLLY! with the incredible Carol Channing. I joke with folks that practically every show I ever went after I never got. And then the incredible blessing that happened were things I never dreamed of. DOLLY was one of those.
The show had been cast for months, but a week before rehearsals were to start one male dancer got a Broadway show (DOLLY was set to tour for a year before coming into NYC). I went to the audition – something like 120 guys were there. One spot available. They taught one combination and cut to 30. I was kept. We did another combination, they cut to 15. I was kept again. It was here that I heard they needed someone 6 foot something because they’d started costumes and the guy was that tall. Clearly – I am not. I went in to sing thinking “I’m so not getting this” so I threw caution to the wind and just sang. I went home and considered how I was going to have to wait tables again for the first time in four years. The call came within an hour.
Thank you Lee Roy Reams for the amazing gift that is DOLLY. It was a wonderful family. In 22 months no one left the show. We all loved what we were doing.
I ended up handling choreography duties for the post-Bway tour and have done something like 9 productions since. Oh – and I should mention that DOLLY (like a good matchmaker) introduced me to my husband, Michael Caprio. We’ve been together over 20 years. Can you ask more of a Broadway debut?
I’m second from the left in the Waiters Gallop pic below – please note the pulled up feet 🙂
Happy Birthday Carol Channing!
Happiest birthday wishes to my dear, wonderful Carol Channing, who turns 94 today!
As I did for over two and a half years to her personally, today I sing “You’re still going, you’re still growing, you’re still going strong.”
What a gift to make my Broadway debut with a legend of her irresistible charm and talent. You can read my journey with Carol in this blog post.
I was uber-fortunate to share a Broadway stage with Carol again a few years ago when Broadway Cares honored her at the 2010 “Gypsy Of The Year” event.
Check out me, Carol and a big chorus of men singing her praises below:
Carol Channing and Perry Como – “If You Hadn’t But You Did”
Classic Carol Channing.
And Perry Como handles straight man duties with aplomb.
(h/t TRR favorite anonymous reader)
Broadway legend Carol Channing returns to the New York stage
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| Carol Channing with Justin Vivian Bond All photos: David Gordon |
Carol Channing, Tony Award-winner and Broadway legend, returned to the New York stage on January 20th to celebrate her 93rd birthday and the 50th anniversary of the hit musical “Hello, Dolly!” at an appearance at The Town Hall.
Carol – yes, we are on a first name basis as I was fortunate to work with Carol for over two years in the last Broadway revival of “Hello, Dolly!” – displayed her famous wit and humor in an hour long discussion with performance artist Justin Vivian Bond.
At one point, when asked why Carol and Mary Martin never brought the play “Legends” in to Broadway, Carol dryly answered “It was a terrible show.” After a pause, she added “That was a bitch remark.”
Theatermania reports:
The evening’s biggest thrill came toward the very end, when Channing, with the gravitas of an actor still in her prime, delivered the big “Ephraim, let me go” monologue from Hello, Dolly! and launched into the chorus of the Jerry Herman musical’s title song. It was a fitting finish from a legend who still knows how to please her audience.
Head over to TheaterMania for more photos.
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| Carol Channing bows to the audience as they sing “Happy Birthday” to her |
Super Bowl commercial: Carol Channing for Pepsi
Pepsi tracked down Rory O’ Connor, a passionate fan who went to Super Bowl IV.
Check out what happens when he experiences the halftime performance of a lifetime starring Broadway legend Carol Channing —for a second time.
Tune in to the Pepsi Super Bowl 48 Halftime Show with Bruno Mars, happening on February 2nd, 2014.
OUT Magazine’s fab photo-shoot with Broadway legend Carol Channing
My beautiful, dear Carol Channing did a fun photo-shoot for OUT Magazine in advance of her upcoming evening at Town Hall in NYC on January 20th. From OUT:
At 92, she has grown a little frail — she has some trouble walking, and her eyesight is weak — but she is still a bewitching, arrestingly vivid personality.
The very air around her seemed to sizzle as she and performance artist Justin Vivian Bond were photographed recently beside the pool of her friend Sylvia’s lovely ranch-style house.
She cracked wise, hammed it up, and gracefully accepted compliments on her snappy blue trouser suit, which featured a bejeweled, embroidered snake winding up one leg.
The shoot took place in honor of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: An Intimate Evening With Carol Channing and Justin Vivian Bond, a special event taking place on January 20 at the Town Hall in New York City.
Check out more of the fun photo-shoot with Carol at OUT.
Campaign to nominate Tony Award winner Carol Channing for the Kennedy Center Honors
A campaign has been launched to nominate Tony Award winner and Broadway legend Carol Channing for the Kennedy Center Honors.
People who know Carol well, like Broadway stars Lee Roy Reams and Marge Champion have joined the endeavor.
As many of you know, I spent several years working with Carol during the last revival of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway. A few years ago I was honored to share a Broadway stage with her again at the “Gypsy of the Year” gala in 2010 and was invited to speak about my experiences with her in the documentary “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life.”
I love Carol so dearly; and her talent is so vast, special and glorious.
You can personally recommend Carol for this well-deserved honor on the official Kennedy Center website by clicking here.
The Honors recipients are typically announced in early September, but the decisions on who to honor begin much, much earlier in the year. It’s never too early to recommend an artist for the honor.