Learn Your History
The York Theatre Company Presents Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
Legendary Broadway star Carol Channing has passed away at the age of 97. Mostly known for originating the role of Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, her raspy voice was distinct and unmistakable.
Channing was born in Seattle and found her love of theatre at a young age due to passing out copies of The Christian Science Monitor in front of performance spaces. When it came time for her to go off to college, her mother revealed to her a family secret. She was partially Black. Her paternal grandmother was listed as ‘colored’ on her birth certificate making her father, George Channing, a Black German American. Her mother told her because she would be on her own now and didn’t want her to be surprised if “she had a Black baby.”
I know it’s true the moment I sing and dance. I’m proud as can be of [my black ancestry]. It’s one of the great strains in show business. I’m so grateful. My father was a very dignified man and as white as I am. My [paternal] grandparents were Nordic German, so apparently I [too] took after them [in appearance]
Channing went on to major in drama at Bennington College in Vermont but left school her junior year because of a mention in the New Yorker magazine. However, it was four years until she found another acting gig. She made her stage debut in “Never Take No for an Answer” and was an understudy in “Let’s Face It” but it was her role in the Broadway musical “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” in 1949 that made her a star.
In 1964 Channing stole all of our hearts as Dolly Gallagher Levi in “Hello Dolly!” and we never wanted her to go away again. It was the role that solidified and defined her as a Broadway staple. This lead to her starring in the movie musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” as Muzzy Van Hossmere in 1967. She was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for her role.
Channing was a rightfully a Broadway icon and beloved by all. She won several lifetime achievement awards and was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. Her smile remained bright, and she worked well into her 90’s.
Rest In Peace Carol Channing!
Watch video of her below accepting her Tony Award and exceptional performance by the All-Black cast of Hello, Dolly! with Pearl Bailey.
A few weeks ago, previews began for the Bette Midler-led revival of Hello, Dolly! over at the Shubert Theatre. Midler last appeared on Broadway in her hilarious one-woman show I’ll Eat You Last at the Booth three years ago, and Fiddler on the Roof in 1967, when the actress had last starred in a musical on the Great White Way.
This revival of Hello, Dolly! marks the fourth incarnation of the Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman musical since its first inception in 1964, starring Carol Channing. The original production played well, but after three years and a slight decline in ticket sales, producer David Merrick decided he needed to shake things up a bit.
What better way to achieve shock value than to recast the show and create an all-Black version with the amazingly talented Pearl Bailey as matchmaker Dolly Levi and Cab Calloway as Horace Vandergelder.
Nowadays, a stunt like this would surprise no one, but in the late 1960s –a time of war and protest, racism and hate– the casting was nearly unheard of. The cast, however, didn’t deter people from seeing the show.
In fact, Hello, Dolly! opened to glowing reviews on November 12, 1967, at the St. James Theatre. This new version would later close on December 27, 1970, bringing the total cumulative Broadway run to 2,844 performances, thus making it the longest-running musical of its time.
Du
e to popularity, producers released another cast recording with the all-Black cast and Bailey received a Special Tony Award in 1968. She would eventually reprise her role in a short-lived revival in 1975 with Billy Daniels.
After her successful run as Dolly, more opportunities opened up for Black actresses to step into the role of the meddling matchmaker including: Thelma Carpenter, who actually went on as Bailey’s alternate on Wednesday matinees and performed in over 100 performances, Edwina Lewis, and E. Faye Bulter — whose 1990 version included the cut song “Love, Look in My Window.”
Looking back on this amazing production, and with the revival set to officially open in April, we got to thinking: If we could recast Hello, Dolly! today, who are some Black actresses we’d like to see?
Check out some of Team BB answers below:
JHD: Jenifer Lewis. She can blow, she has sass, she needs to be on Broadway since yesterday. And she would absolutely make an amazing Dolly. She actually played the title role back in 2009 in a Seattle Regional Production. If not a Broadway reprisal, we’ll settle for a revival of Mame too.
Tristan: Whoopi Goldberg, Queen Latifah, or Vanessa Williams. Here for all three of them, though the Ugly Betty fan in me is truly here for a Wilhelmina Slater-inspired Dolly.
Who would YOU cast? Sound off in the comments below.