The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 7, 1994 - 9 Hello, Carol! Channing returns in 'Dolly!' By MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO Since its Broadway premiere in 1964, the title role in "Hello, Dolly!" has been played by a string of charis- matic women: Ginger Rogers, Martha W Hello, Dolly! Fox Theatre October 4, 1994, Raye, Betty Grable, Bibi Osterwald, Pearl Bailey (who later starred in an all- Black touring company),Phillis Diller, Ethel Merman and Mary Martin. But perhaps the most renowned of them all is Carol Channing, who originated the role. After Merman had turned it down, Channing seized the opportunity to play Dolly, and promptly made it one of her two most closely identified roles (the other being Lorelei in "Gentlemen Pre- fer Blondes"). She won a Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical - beat- ing outBarbra Streisand's "Funny Girl" - and since then has played the role well over 4,000 performances. Now she is "back where she belongs" in the 30th anniversary tour of "Dolly!," and even at 70 some years old, Carol Channing still exudes the same charm and splendor she did in 1964. The turn-of-the-century story cen- ters around Dolly Gallagher Levi (Channing), a New York matchmaker in the process of helping a stuffy Yon- kers half-a-millionaire, Horace Vandergelder (Jay Garner). But Dolly has her own eyes on Horace, and in the process of landing him matches up Horace's two clerks, his whiny niece, Horace's former sweetie Irene Malloy (Florence Lacey) and Mrs. Malloy's hat-shop girl. Despite its rocky beginnings - a shaky pre-Broadway tryout in Detroit which prompted new writers, a new first-act finale and four new songs - "Dolly!" has always been a sure suc- cess with a gifted female comic ve- hicle. Jerry ("Maine," "La Cage Aux Folles") Herman's score is light, witty and melodic; Michael Stewart's book is chock full of snippets of wisdom like "Marriage is a bribe to make a house- keeper think she's a householder" and "99 percent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in danger of contamination." Fortunately, this production main- tains much of the original devices as far as sets, lighting, costumes and direc- tion go. There is only one way to do "Dolly!," and that is Gower Champion's way. Lee Roy Reams has produced Champion's direction and choreography admirably, and well he should; he played Cornelius in "Dolly!"'s last Broadway revival. Though Jonathan Bixby credits "Dolly!" original costume designer Freddy Wittop with inspiration, it ap- pears as if someone let the costume designer from the "Grease" revival loose; a few numbers (most notably "Put on Your Sunday Clothes") has a break-out-those-sunglasses neon qual- ity. However, the period style, espe- cially the hats, is outstandingly recre- ated. Oliver Smith's sets, which make ample use of scrims, are both func- tional and surprisingly lavish, espe- cially the HarmoniaGardens ballroom. All of the performances are well above satisfactory, most notably Jay Garner (of "Buck Rogers" fame) as Horace and Michael DeVries as Cornelius. Florence Lacey steals every moment she can as the plucky hat-shop owner Irene Molloy; her voice (famil- iar from "Evita" on Broadway) is huge and warm and wonderful. However, everyone takes a backseat to Channing's Dolly. It's not that Channing has a spec- tacular voice, or a breathtaking beauty. But the truth is that she is over 70, and she infuses every performance with her energy and vitality. She is so on for every moment she is on stage. And in Dolly's big moment, when she returns to the Harmonia Gardens and breaks into the title song, Channingdescended that staircase, resplendent in that fa- mous rich red gown, and everyone in the Fox Theatre was nearly moved to tears. Before she could even finish the See DOLLY!, Page ,11 At over 70 years old, Carol Channing is still going strong in "Hello, Dolly!" 6MA Continued from page 8 John Michael Montgomery won two awards, taking the Single of the Year for "I Swear" and the Horizon Award, which honors emerging stars. Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee" won for song of the year; Jackson also sported the most interesting outfit of the night, wearing the first western coat with fringes that I have ever seen with tails. While deserving of the Horizon Award, Martina McBride only won one award for best Music Video with "Independence Day." 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