Ray Workman: A Fan's Memories of Hello, Dolly!

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In the large scheme of things, you probably have never heardof Ray Workman. He’s not “in the business” and he has no other relationshipwith Dolly beyond being a huge fan. When you hear his story, I think you willunderstand why I chose to include him as part of this project.
Dolly is a busy-body matchmaker type, who likes being in oneverything and knowing everything there is to know about everyone she meets. Can't dance? She'll teach you. Ray feels the same aboutDolly Levi.He probably holds the undocumented record of seeing Hello, Dolly, probably nine hundredperformances! He has seen up to twelve or thirteen different Dollys. Obviously,it is Ray’s favorite show. He feels that nothing has ever topped it. He doesn’tthink anything ever will. He has seen Carol Channing, Ginger Rogers, MarthaRaye, Phyllis Diller, Pearl Bailey, Dorothy Lamour, Sheila MacRae, Jo AnneWorley,  Eve Arden,  Yvonne De Carlo, Carol Swarbrick, and thensome women that are not as well known as the ones cited here. He also saw Nell Carter in DOLLY with Nipsy Russell in Long Beach in the early 90's, just before the Long Beach CLO went under.  They booked that show as the First International Cast, as it was a totally mixed ethnic cast.  She was fine as Dolly, and Nipsey was very funny.  Ray remembers she cried during her closing night speech, saying it was one of the best companies she had ever worked with.It all began when Ray had just graduated high school in 1965.Actually, this story begins in August. His grandmother came to him, tellingthat the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the LA Music Center was opening in LosAngeles. She wanted to get season tickets. She was an avid theater goer.  Ray had never been to the theater. Hisgrandmother talked him into going. That season included Carol Channing inHello, Dolly and Florence Henderson and Ricardo Montalban. Ray was familiarwith Channing because of a television special she did. He was enthralled withher.  She blew him out of his chair. He couldn’t wait to see her in Dolly. Shehad also done a number, at that point, on the Ed Sullivan Show. He’s thinkingit was Before the Parade Passes By.Of course, EVERYBODY was singing the title tube.Ray’s parents knew that he and his grandmother were going, so they asked if hecould get tickets for Dolly for them as well. Ray took his younger brother whowas about ten years old at the time. Because of huge demand, they opened theticket sales window on a Sunday. That had never been done before. The phoneswere ringing off the hook.  Dolly wasonly going to play LA for seven weeks. They wanted to sell all the tickets onthe same day and give everybody the same chance.  Ray and his brother took the bus about half anhour from where they lived. They lived in Compton, California which is abouttwelve mile south of LA. They got up around five thirty in the morning and theygot to downtown LA around six fifteen AM. The box office wasn’t open andalready the crowd was enormous! This was documented in The LA Times.  The lines to buy tickets were so intense and theyopened the box office at ten AM.  The box office stayed open until every seatwas sold. That was about four thirty that same afternoon. Ray and his brotherstood in line from seven AM until four PM. An announcement was made about halfan hour before they got to the box office window. “May we have your attention,please? There are no more Saturday night tickets left.” They did that as eachday sold out. Ray’s parents could only go on a Monday night. Ray’s father wasoff only one day a week at that time. As they stood in line and kept hearingall of the days dropping off like flies, there were some nights AND matineesdisappearing, narrowing their options. By the time they got to the box officewindow, they were able to get the last two tickets on a particular Mondaynight! There were still people behind them. God only knows what their fate was.In the next day’s LA TIMES, it wasstated that all fifty six performances for its entire seven week run was soldout! This was before TKTS and Telecharge or TicketMaster! They weren’t eventaking telephone orders. You HAD to go to the box office! People didn’t havethe credit cards that are now the norm.  Ofcourse, there were no ATMs at that time. People were there with full cashbuying what they could. One thing, also, that is noteworthy. There were two foodtrucks who got word about this huge lines of people standing in the hotCalifornian August sun to buy tickets for Dolly. Those two food truckscompletely ran out of food. Ray and his grandmother ended up buying season tickets. Theywere in the third row of the third balcony. At that time, that was expenditure towatch their pennies to do. Remember, Ray was still in high school. He wasworking part time in a movie theater.

He was making a dollar thirty an hour.His grandmother was working for Western Auto.
Ray saw one of her pay stubsafter she passed away. This woman lived on ninety three dollars a week.  She thought when she got the tickets that shewould buy better tickets for Ray’s parents and then switch them. Needless tosay, they kept their tickets. Ray’s parents ended up in the last row of thethird balcony. Ray’s father always joked that there was only one person higherup than him and that was God. They were up where the follow spot was positionedto follow Channing. For those of you who have been to the Pavilion, you knowthat that is high up. There are 3197 seats at the DorothyChandler. Ray’s parents did not see it the same night that Ray and hisgrandmother did. Ray’s parents saw it the second week on a Monday night. 
 Rayand his grandmother saw it the following week on a Tuesday night. The nightthat Ray’s parents saw it, they got home that evening about eleven forty five PM.Ray’s mother was holding her beloved Dollyprogram that she had purchased. In those days, it was one dollar to purchase a souvenirprogram. In that cast, Horace McMann was Horace Vandergelder and Harvey Evanswas Barnaby Tucker. Ray remembers Horace was very good. Ray didn’t know toomuch about him prior. He was so enthralled with Carol that it was as if she wasthe only one on stage. 
 He does remember how wonderful Harvey was as Barnaby. Ashe recalls, there WAS a good chemistry between Channing and McMann. He doesn’t remembertoo much about McMann other than he looked the part. Even his picture in theprogram captured that. He reminded Ray of David Burns from pictures he hadseen. He didn’t travel long with her before being replaced by Max Showalter.McMann passed away in 1971. He was sixty five. The show opened at the DorothyChandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center, on Tuesday Evening,September 14, 1965 and closed on Saturday evening October 30, 1965.
Her standbywas Lisa Kirk. Evening Performances were Monday through Saturday Eves at eightthirty PM   Matinees, on Wednesday andSaturday at two thirty PM. Dark on Sundays.Harvey had the enthusiasm that Barnaby needs.He really nailed it for Ray, much more so than the actor playing CorneliusHackl. Harvey was the right age and build for it. Hid enthusiasm wasinfectious. Also, the cast was fresh; this was the beginning of the week andthey had not done a matinee that day.  The show opened late September 1965. Ray hadstarted college. 
He had the cast album and practically wore it out before heeven saw the show!The one thing that Ray remembers above allothers that night was Carol Channing’s smile. It showed up to the thirdbalcony. It also didn’t hurt that they had opera glasses. Carol took thatentire audience of 3200 people with standing room and had them in her hand andheld them there for two and a half hours. Everyone was absolutely enthralledwith her performance. He has never seen an audience get back to their seats afterintermission as this cast did. They loved Act One so much, they couldn’t waitfor Act Two.     Ray only saw Channing once during that run atthe Pavilion but he did see her in future productions over the years. Themoment the show was within reach, Ray got a group of tickets in hand. In 1977, she played the Pantages Theater inLA on Hollywood Boulevard. When he saw it at the Pantages, he had better seatsthan six years ago at the Dorothy Chandler. This time around, he had fourth rowaisle seats in the orchestra section. This time around, he caught everything,ALL of Channing’s nuances, all of her facial expressions, her eyes when shewould roll them at Vandergelder for one reason or another. 
It brought the housedown, those aspects that he missed from the first time. He ended up seeing thatproduction three or four times. Tour stops included the Los Angeles CountyMusic Center in 1982 and the Orange County Performing Arts Center and PasadenaCivic Auditorium in 1995. They staged the show in 1978 for the opening of LongBeach's Terrace Theatre. They were not able to open on their scheduled opening atThe Terrace Theater due to a sound issue in the theater. 
Carol would not allowthe show to open without the sound being perfect. They ended up opening on aWednesday night after that. In 1978, Ray was working at The Long Beach CivicLight Opera. He saw the Terrace Theater run also three or four times. He remembersthe last performance of that run took place on a Sunday, there was a matineeand an evening show and Ray saw both. Ray caught Carol’s last tour in 1994 inseveral places. He saw her at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. In 1995,Channing received the Lifetime achievement Tony Award. Harvey Sabinson, who wasthe press rep for Dolly also received a Lifetime Achievement Award that year. Carolhad previously won a Tony Award in 1964 and the New York Drama Critics Awardfor her role in Hello, Dolly! Ray saw both the opening and closingperformances at the Orpheum. She played the Sacramento Community Theater inSacramento. That was the last time he saw her do it in February of 1997. Thirtyyears later, under the guidance of Lee Roy Reams as director, she had a littlemore sexuality in her performance. Channing, now 76, seemed so comfortable inthe role you couldn’t picture seeing anyone else on stage doing it.   Theopening night crowd at the Community Center clearly loved her every minute shewas on stage. Carol had the audience won over the second she first appeared andcould do no wrong in the eyes of the crowd. During her Ephraim ‘Let me go”speech, she had tears in her eyes, something Ray had never noticed before. 
Again, this is due to Lee Roy’s influence. There was poignancy to rejoining thehuman race again. Perhaps it had something to do with his seat, but he neverrecalled seeing that before. Channing worked the role well.  Lee Roy Reams played Cornelius Hackl and ScottBridges appeared as Barnaby Tucker.In 1982, The Long Beach Civic Opera acquired therights to present Jo Anne Worley in Dolly. Tickets were printed up as well asadvertising and promotional materials including posters. It was announced aspart of that season. Channing was also touring with Dolly that year. Anengagement fell through with one of the stops of that tour.  In was decided that they would bring Channingback into LA in for two weeks to play the Dorothy Chandler. Meanwhile, this wasgoing to overlap with the Jo Anne Worley production at The Long Beach CivicOpera. The LA Times had fun with this calling it the dueling Dollys. At onepoint, Jo Anne was interviewed and talked about the fact that she had beenCarol’s standby in New York. Jo Anne said in the interview at that time thatalthough she did not see Carol that often, they were still friends. Jo Annealso said in that interview that the difference between a standby and anunderstudy was five hundred dollars. That was on Channel Five, on one of thelocal networks. 

Jo Ann Worley

So for a brief moment, you had these two Dollys in twoproductions about fourteen miles apart. His second favorite Dolly is Pearl Bailey. “Shenailed it.” She brought to Dolly something that Carol had not done. It was acompletely different show with Bailey. You couldn’t help but love it. Baileyreached out and grabbed the audience just as Carol did. You always felt thatCarol was part of the company. And, as with Carol, you were with her from themoment she put down that newspaper until her “third act”, which was almost aforty five minute stance after a full two and a half hour show, in which shewould do a club act while the company stood there! Ray saw it with both CabCallaway and Billy Daniels. Carol, for Ray, will always come in as Number Onebut Pearl will come in as Number Two. The one Dolly who was missed the mark, forRay, was Sheila MacRae. Jo Anne Worley was supposed to do Dolly in SanBernadino.  She was offered a tour of Pirates of Penzance. They brought inSheila MacRae at the last minute. He doesn’t know if it was lack of rehearsal,or what it was, Sheila just didn’t do the part justice. She came across like a “truckdriver in drag. She missed it completely.”  He felt like the “humorless” restaurant scenewould go on for the rest of his life. He thought they would never get to thepolka number. Martha Raye did it at the Long Beach CivicOpera. Dorothy Lamour played it with a bus and truck company several yearsprior to that. Even though Martha Raye did it on Broadway, she didn’t seem toknow her lines the night Ray saw it. She was paid ten thousand dollars toperform it for nine performances. That was three weeks in a row, Friday andSaturday nights, and Sunday matinees. She was going up all the time on herlines. 

Martha Raye Company

Ray saw several of those performances. A funny thing happened on herclosing night that brought the house down. In the Harmonia Gardens,Vandergelder stands up and tells Dolly he’s leaving. Martha says, “Wait aminute! The Polka contest is about to begin and I just remembered my lines!” Theaudience fell off their chairs laughing. She kept breaking that fourth wall allthe time. There was a gay bar in Laguna Beach called The Little Shrimp thatbusloads of guys would go to the shows from. She had a large contingencyattending her shows from there. She frequented it , even sitting at the pianobar singing. Also on closing night, as she is hugging the cash register, shesays, “When I think of the money and the jewels and brunch at the Little Shrimpin Laguna” as she looked up at the mezzanine. Ray thought to himself, at thetime, that if the creators were there, they wouldn’t like that, breaking thatfourth wall, although she got laughs. There is an unwritten law that you don’tgo off script for anything. Read what Will Mackenzie had to say about that whenhe went off script in Ginger Roger’s Dolly company. The last Dolly that Ray saw was CarolSwarbrick at the Sacramento Music Circus. Ray believes that something is lostwhen Dolly is performed in the round. He believes it needs a proscenium stage.When the runway and stairs are gone, you are missing two important elements ofhow this show was meant to be performed. Carol Swarbrick made her entrance intothe Harmonia Gardens as the cast sang Hello,Dolly to her. It didn’t have the same impact. Carol Swarbrick was fun and agood Dolly. It was not nearly as exciting as a proscenium stage production. Shewas funny, the restaurant scene, in particular. He doesn’t know what she waseating, but she did it with such relish, just as Channing did. 

Carol Swarbrick as Dolly

She just kept gobblingdown this food. The more she did so, the more the audience roared. 
Therestaurant scene was also out in the house, on a riser. She was that muchcloser to the people around her. There was no place for her to get rid ofanything that might not be tasty. 
Carol almost checked to death on stage withno where to go. Ray also had another layer to his Dollystory. He was friends with Danny Lockin who had played Barnaby Tucker inseveral productions of Dolly AND repeated the role in the film. Ray was takingTheater Arts in Cerritos College in Norwalk, California. He was also studyingjournalism. When Dolly came back in June of 1967, once again at the DorothyChandler, this time with Ginger Rogers and David Burns, Ray once again took hisgrandmother. They moved from third row in the third balcony to fourth rowcenter orchestra seats. This time, also, it was his treat. Now, he had moneycoming in; he was working in addition to going college. Danny Lockin blew Rayout of the water; he couldn’t believe how wonderful Danny was. He nailed thepart of Barnaby Tucker. Danny seemed to have even more enthusiasm than Harveydid, if that is at all possible. Ray sent Danny a note asking him if he couldinterview him for his college paper. He mailed it to him in care of thePavilion. A week later, Danny called Ray at home. He told Ray he would love tomeet with after the Saturday matinee. Ray ended up interviewing him backstagein his dressing room which he shared with Bill Mullikin, who was playing Cornelius.Ray wrote fast and furious since he didn’t have a tape recorder. After theinterview, he asked Ray if he would like a tour of the backstage area. It wasgetting close to six PM, and there was a lot of backstage activity for thatnight’s show. 

Michael Crawford and Danny Lockin from the film

Ray sent a copy of the interview before it was published.  Danny read it and approved it. They kept intouch with each other. Ray also saw the show a couple of times during that run. 
Ray saw it every week, sometimes three or four times just to see Danny do it,Ray thought he was so great. After seven weeks at the Pavilion, the show wasmoving to the Curran in San Francisco. Ray said that he was going to get thetickets and go up for their closing night. Danny wanted to treat Ray for thetickets, but Ray declined. 
Ray was invited back by Danny. Danny introducedGinger to Ray who remembered him from Los Angeles. She was very gracious. Afterseeing Ray a couple of times, she would greet him with, “You’re back again! Howdid we do this time?” Around that time, Danny told Ray that something wasbrewing that he could not talk about. It was the movie! He never said a wordabout it until after all contracts were signed. Ray loved him in the movie;thought he was wonderful. He was toned down for the movie. Gene Kelly toneddown the enthusiasm that Lucia unleashed on stage.

Danny Lockin

Unfortunately, Danny had a sad ending. Rayheard about it at work. This was August of 1977.Someone that Ray worked withcalled to tell him that Danny Lockin had been killed. It was in Variety. Rayran out and got the paper. It was a daily at that time. Variety wasn’t as clearas the LA Times as to what had happened. 
He was brutally stabbed over a hundredtimes. Apparently, he had met someone in a bar in Garden Grove. Ray, who isgay, did not know that Danny was. Danny was dating one of the girls in the showwhen Ray met him. They also got married and had a child. Ray and Danny had goneout for coffee and pie for a couple of times, never for cocktails. Ray was nota drinker. They never discussed sexuality. Ray’s attraction to Danny wasbecause he was a great man, nothing more. 
Ray had met Cathy Haas, who Dannymarried. Cathy had played the front end of a horse in a dance number when the Dolly! company played in  San Francisco.  In 1967, while working with Dorothy Lamour inLas Vegas, they got married and later lived in a tiny apartment in New YorkCity.  During the shooting of Hello Dolly, Cathy became pregnant, sothey moved back to LA., bought a house and in early 1969, their son JeremyDaniel was born. She was very standoffish and aloof towards Ray. Maybe it wasbecause Danny and Ray clicked as two friends. He doesn’t know.
The first time Ray saw Dolly, he was eighteenyears old. He is now sixty-five. The show epitomizes for Ray the message thatyou can start all over again with your life. It doesn’t end because someonepasses away. Dolly says it all in BeforeThe Parade Passes By. As Carol Channing says, that is the spine of theshow. Dolly fights on and succeeds. The show hit at the right time in ourcountry. Kennedy had been assassinated a mere few months before this showopened on Broadway. What this country needed was something light and airy andfun. That is why, there is a production of Dolly playing somewhere in the worldon any given night. We are overdue for revivals of both Dolly and Mame onBroadway! 

Thank you Ray Workman for the gifts you have given to the world and will continue to give!


With grateful XOXOXs ,


Check out my site celebrating my forthcoming book on Hello, Dolly!

I want this to be a definitive account of Hello, Dolly!  If any of you reading this have appeared in any production of Dolly, I'm interested in speaking with you!

Do you have any pics?

If you have anything to add or share, please contact me at Richard@RichardSkipper.com.


NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.  FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!


Please do what YOU can to be more aware that words and actions DO HURT...but they can also heal and help!    
               My next blog will be... My Exclusive interview with Lina Purl!
Thank you, to all the mentioned in this blog!

  Here's to an INCREDIBLE tomorrow for ALL...with NO challenges!
Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING  and HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
 
Sign The Petition!
TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED DAY
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com                            
 
This Blog is dedicated to ALL THE DOLLYS and ANYONE who has EVER had a connection with ANY of them on ANY Level!

Linda Purl: An Actor's Singer

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"There is a certain immortality involved in theater,not created by monuments and books, but through the knowledge the actor keepsto his dying day that on a certain afternoon, in an empty and dusty theater, hecasts a shadow of a being that was not himself but a distillation of all he hadever observed; all the unsingable heart song the ordinary man may feel butnever utter, he gave voice to.   And bythat he somehow joins the ages. "  Arthur Miller, The Essays of Arthur Miller
Happy Sunday!I hope you had a great week, an even greater weekend, andthat next week even tops that! I’m very excited about my subject today. I havelived through many emotional nights with her. She probably did more movies ofthe week than anyone I know.
Linda Purl recently filmed recurring roles on True Blood and Homeland, and she has also been making plans - along with afabulous team – to record a solo album this fall with a great group ofmusicians, including a guest appearance by Desi Arnaz Jr. on percussion. The CDwill feature classic standards that conjure up the glow of swanky, smokyafter-hours nightclubs the ’40s and ’50s, with great music that told stories oflove and heartache, stories that entertained and healed and helped make senseof a changing and uncertain world.
Linda's show, with a working title of MidnightCaravan…Travels Through the Great New York Nightclubs, will open in New YorkCity on September 30 at Feinstein’s at the Regency, where they will make thelive recording. They’ll lay down tracks for songs such as “Easy Living,” “IThought About You,” and “My Romance,” to name just a few. A portion of theproceeds from the event will benefit the Actors Fund.
You will get to experience all of this live when Lindaappears next month at Feinsteins on September 30th. 
I already have myreservations! I hope that you will join me! Think you know Linda Purl? Thinkagain! Today, I celebrate Linda Purl's Body of Worth!It all began in Linda’s childhood living room. Linda’s fatherwas a businessman, but both parents were artists at heart. They would do playreadings. They went to the theater a lot. It was a huge part of this family’sglue and fun. Linda grew up in Japan with an interest in the theater andcould also speak the language. When a part came up for a little Western girlwho spoke Japanese, Linda got it. There was nobody else. It started out as afun thing for her and one thing led to another. She didn’t have an “epiphany”or a fabulous “aha” moment that many people have, a moment when they see thelight and choose this path. For Linda, it was a gradual organic process. Linda went from the living room to Japan and then to Englandto study her craft as well as in New York, then working in New York and LosAngeles. Then for a long stretch of time, she was only working in LA. Shestarted working professionally at eighteen in earnest. Now, she seems to havecome full circle with ample work on both costs.Linda admits to me that she really doesn’t have a routine, atime when she works on her craft, but considers it a very good idea. It is anongoing process and one of the things that has really helped Linda in thatregard is the cabaret section of her career. She has autonomy. She goes outabout once a month, sometimes more, to sing somewhere. That means she has tolearn her new songs. She does her sit-ups, puts her lashes and pantyhose on, andget on that stage and throw caution to the wind. So, in that sense, she hasfound it very healthy, helpful, and a good discipline just to have the privilegeof getting on stage with that kind of regularity. Linda say’s it’s a wonderful life. It’s tough. It willdisappoint you. It will take you around the world. It will give you the bestfriends in the world. It will give you the best education in the world.        When Linda gets “stuck” in her career, she focuses on life. The most embarrassing thing that ever happened to Linda onstage happened during a production of Romeoand Juliet. It was the “morning after” scene. “Juliet” discretely goesbehind a draped curtain to change from this sheet that was wrapped around her.She made this quick exit behind a draped curtain. Linda’s business was to dropthe sheet and slip into her dress. Just as she dropped the sheet, the curtainfell, and she was absolutely “starkers” to the audience. The audience got morethan they bargained for that night! The audience knew in a moment what had happenedand Linda heard a gasp from the audience that nearly sucked her and Romeo offthe stage. The audience felt sorry for Linda. 
She had never experienced thatmuch sympathy on stage before, even when “Juliet” dies, even when Romeo dies,not even both killing themselves! Nothing compared with the sympathy she feltwhen they came off the stage at the end. What would Linda would tell her twenty-five year old self?Linda thinks this is a great question. She has a teenage son and what she isseeing so clearly now, with hindsight, is that the choices that he and hiscontemporaries are making at this stage in their lives, have long termtrajectories. The choices that are made on any given Wednesday night, forexample, whether or not to do their homework will play out years later. Shewould tell her twenty five year old self to make value based decisions. 
The one major change that Linda would like to see in thisbusiness is for the reality shows to be killed.       The one person Linda would like to meet above all others isObama. She would say to him, “Keep going.”The work that she is most proud of is a movie of the weekthat she did many years ago called LikeNormal People that she got to do with Shaun Cassidy. It is the true storyof a mentally handicapped couple. They were remarkable people and veryinspiring and Linda learned a lot from them. Preparing for upcoming show at Feinstein’s, Linda listens toa lot of music. That is how they very gradually arrived at her song list forthis CD and engagement. She listened to easily two hundred songs, maybe more. Becauseit is now a show and not just a CD, there is the matter of the dress! She hasrifled through all kinds of images from fashion magazines to those wonderfulglam coffee table books just to try and find a look that would also becomfortable. When she can, she also loves to go see other entertainers. Sheloves the art form of cabaret. She believes it is an unusual intimate form. Sheadores Christine Ebersole and Clint Holms on stage.   Linda does not know how much she succeeds in reaching heraudiences in today’s option filled world. What is she doing to combat that?Word of mouth, friends, Facebook, Twitter, whatever the particular venues reachfor pulling in their own audiences and subscribers. She just pursues allavenues available.  For my singer readers, Linda recommends apple cider vinegar,honey, and hot water and lemon when you are battling vocal issues. Mix it alltogether in a thoroughly disgusting potion. When Linda is putting a show together, it is an emotionalprocess for her. She doesn’t mean weepy emotional. She means going from yourgut. Deborah Grace Winer, who run’s 92 Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists, amongmany other things, has worked with Linda, which Linda considers an extreme privilege.Rex Reed made that connection happen years ago. That’s how Linda met Miss Debas she calls Debra. That was it. They became friends. She is so smart, soknowledgeable, and has such great taste. Linda asked Debra to help her. Debra,in turn, introduced Linda to Mark Waldrop. They became the three musketeers onthis project.  As much as anything elseand as much as Linda has enjoyed the work, part of the agenda is also havingDebra and Mark in her life as her friends. She feels very fortunate on thatfront. They talk. They listen to a lot of music. They discuss why Linda isdrawn to “that particular song” or what it seems to say or Mark or Miss Debwill find some chestnut. It is kind of a stew they are making.    Sing, sing, sing is how Linda prepares for herperformances. Being in LA a lot of the time finds her in her car a lot of thetime and that has become her rehearsal studio. Pilates and time at the gym isanother part of the preparation so that she has more tools to play with. Yourbody is pulled into the process.

Maria Callas

There is a few singers that Linda wishes she had seenperform LIVE, Maria Callas. It’s her passion that touches Linda’s heart. Lindahas to say that she did get to see Tyne Daly in Terrence McNally’s Master Class. It is one of my biggestregrets that I did not. Linda feels that that is the closest she will ever cometo seeing Callas. Daly gave an extraordinary performance. One entertainer thatLinda got to see live was Lena Horne. Alas, I missed that one as well! It is somany years later, now, but her brilliant one woman show, The Lady and Her Music still stays with Linda.   Linda’s fondest memory is giving birth to her son.
Who would Linda like to see a future blog feature on?Linda suggested Lee Lessack as the subject of an upcomingblog. Linda has done a lot of concerts with Lee and has spent a lot of time withhim. She admires him. So do I! He is deeply entrepreneurial. In a world that isconstantly changing. Lee has a life gift of propelling himself forward. Hedoesn’t just do it for himself. He takes other people with him, like Linda! Heis generous and understands that it is not just show, it is business and viceversa. He’s got both going on. A man after my own heart.  Lee after you read this, call me!Better yet, come to New York and join me at Feinstein’s onSeptember 30^th. Desi Arnaz will be on congas. It’s going to besilly, ridiculously, fun. Also, Ted Furth, Linda’s musical director, is a jazzgenius. If people have not had a chance to hear him play live, you have no ideawhat you are missing. Linda considers her an actress first and then a singer.Tedd plays the subtext of the lyric in his music. He has it in his hands. Lindadoesn’t know where it comes from, but he is an actor and singer’s musicaldirector. Whether he likes it or not! Linda Purl with Special Guest Star Desi Arnaz, Jr. at Feinstein's at The Regency
DATES:
Sunday, Sep 30, 2012:   6:00PM
Monday, Oct 01, 2012:   6:00PMCLICK HERE for more info and to buy tickets.

Thank you Linda Purl for the gifts you have given to the world and will continue to give!


With grateful XOXOXs ,


Check out my site celebrating my forthcoming book on Hello, Dolly!

I want this to be a definitive account of Hello, Dolly!  If any of you reading this have appeared in any production of Dolly, I'm interested in speaking with you!

Do you have any pics?

If you have anything to add or share, please contact me at Richard@RichardSkipper.com.


NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.  FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!


Please do what YOU can to be more aware that words and actions DO HURT...but they can also heal and help!    
               My next blog will be... My Exclusive interview with Richard Leppig (Gornelius Hackl, Dorothy Lamour Bus and Truck Tour of Hello, Dolly!)
Thank you, to all the mentioned in this blog!

  Here's to an INCREDIBLE tomorrow for ALL...with NO challenges!
Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING  and HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
 
Sign The Petition!
TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED DAY
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com                            
 
This Blog is dedicated to ALL THE DOLLYS and ANYONE who has EVER had a connection with ANY of them on ANY Level!     

Richard Leppig (Cornelius Hackl, Dorothy Lamour Bus and Truck Company)

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Richard Leppig

Prior to Dolly, Richard Leppig was scratching for anythinghe could get in this business. He was working in the Greenwich Village for Bill Dale, a Canadian athlete who competed in the 1938 British Empire Games. Hehad a theater in which he produced psycho dramas. He did shows on health foodsand the effect they would have on you. Richard didn’t know anything about Hello, Dolly! except that it was a bigmusical and beyond his horizon. In order for him to follow in Charles NelsonReilly’s footsteps, he would have to take chances and give it a shot.   Dolly began for Richard when he saw a listing in Back Stage,the theatrical trade paper announcing auditions for the Martha Raye tour of Hello, Dolly to Vietnam in 1967. Theywere casting for the role of Cornelius Hackl. 

Martha Raye in Vietnam

The auditions were being held sixto twelve months prior to the tour beginning. He did well in the audition andit got down to between Richard and another fellow. When casting Cornelius,depending upon other casting choices, tends to go one of two ways. One is sortof the Charles Nelson Reilly portrayal. 

Charles Nelson Reilly

The other way is more of a rusticcountry type way, like Will Mackenzie, who replaced Charles Nelson Reilly. Atthe time of these auditions, Will was appearing as Cornelius on Broadway withBetty Grable. Richard considered himself more of the Charles Nelson Reillytype. Anyway, the casting went in the other direction, and that was the end ofthat.
About a year later, there was another casting notice for Dolly.This time it was for the Dorothy Lamour national tour. Once again, Richard wentin. They remembered him and selected him. Lucia Victor told him to go upstairsand get a contract. It was “rainbow time!”
Richard already knew it was a big glorious show. He feltthat he was stepping out of his league with this. It represented everything hethought Broadway was as far as a big splashy musical show. Making it to thislevel was a dream come true.
His feelings about Dolly today are probably stronger thanthey were forty-five years ago. He appeared with an actress who was not a nameand she blew his socks off. Her name was Alison England. Richard was in hisseventies and played the role of the judge. Alison was brought up in a Hollywoodshow business family. She knew how to take stage. She has a great voice and isalso a great vocal teacher. Richard does believe there is a future for Dolly, butsometimes he gets a little depressed. It is a different type of music now. Themusic of Jerry Herman and others of his ilk are mostly thought of now in ahistorical context. When you allow yourself to witness this show, it will pickyou up and pull you along. It will convert people if they give it a chance. When the Dorothy Lamour company was touring, they werecompeting with the film company in Garrison, New York. They were losing a lotof their dancers because they were being hired for the tour. Their road paycould not compete with a few days of shooting the film for several weeks. Manydancers thought that that would be a better gig. Some of them had been attachedwith Dolly for a long time. Richard believes that Dolly was absolutely one of the topfive shows he was part of. Not only does it have great music, every song kindof picks you up, it also has great comedy. It has a core to it based on The Matchmaker, and going all the wayback to the original German source material.People identify with it. It builds up your spirit, it has a great messagefor people. It’s honest. Ray thinks it’s wonderful. Changing Gower’s choreography is an iffy proposition. Theproblem with choreography is that it’s like writing on water. The nextgeneration may recreate it, but it doesn’t have the crispness of just being created. It has that core of vitality that people get to.Richard considers Charles Nelson Reilly to be one of the

Alison England

great comic actors of all time. Richard brought his own personal timing to theproduction. There are moments in the show where you can take advantage of yourtiming. Richard wore the same shoes for the entire run. They began to wear outtowards the end. On the bottom, the leather had come apart. There was one pointin one of the fast moving scenes where Richard’s shoe just slid on the stage.His feet came out from underneath him and he did a complete fall on his back. Hecould hear his Barnaby Tucker, Jess Richards, asking him if he was alright. Hegot up. It was funny. Later, he thought he should have said, “I think I brokemy purse.”Richard doesn’t even have a program of his days in Dollybecause “chintzy Jack Schlissel” who managed the road company from Merrick’soffice forced those in the company to buy a program. They were charging eightbucks for this. Richard was part of the Dorothy Lamour company from the beginningin October 1967 through July 1968. They ended with a six week run at the TintonHill music tent in Lambertville, New Jersey. Alas, this company never made itto Broadway.  "Thisis the closest I've ever come to an Academy Award. -Dorothy Lamour used to say duringher curtain speech for Dolly!

The blonde Dorothy Lamour

Richard continued to tweak his performance onoccasion but he says you have to be careful to do exactly what you weredirected to do. Lucia Victor did run a tight ship. He remembers the guy playingRudolph, Charles Scott, as they were flying out for their opening in Bloomfield,Indiana saying to him, “Richard, as far as confidence goes you can do whateveryou want as Cornelius. You can pretty much get away with anything.” Richard wasworried about his dancing. He wasn’t a dancer. He thinks things have gottenworse over the past forty-five years! Richard’s favorite memory of the show is whenDorothy as Dolly is teaching him to dance. Richard’s career came to a standstill after Dolly. Afterclosing in Lambertville, Richard came back to New York and was auditioning. Nothing was happening until he got a commercial within a couple of months ofcompleting Dolly. It was a TWA commercial that ran that filmed for three days. Richardwas a principal in the commercial. He didn’t realize it at the time but thecommercial was a series of commercials. The director had written up story linesfor the characters. Richard was one of the story lines, but the thing is no oneever told him that and during the course of after

Dorothy Lamour Company

the first commercial wasairing all over the television, including TheTonight Show, Richard had a falling out with his roommates. Around thatsame time, Richard’s brother came back from Vietnam and suggested that both heand Richard go back to college together. Richard moved back home with his parentsand he and his brother were going to go back to college together. In theinterim, the production house for the commercial called Richard’s old apartmentwith the need for him to come in for the next rehearsal. The guy who wasRichard’s roommate never passed the information on to him. He never got thecall and he was effectively out of show business at that point. Twenty yearslater, almost to the day, Richard went out to Los Angeles to see what he cando on the West Coast.  He admits that he is a very shy person and he didn’t have what it takes togo knocking on agent’s doors. However, he ran across the agent who had workedwith the producers on the commercial for that production house. He had answeredan ad for representation and they talked about what had transpired. It was justan amazing ironic meeting. The one thing that Richard learned from his experience withDolly is confidence on stage. Unfortunately, that credit did not advance hiscareer. When he got the part, he was part of a circle of young strugglingactors that included Morgan Freeman.   Hewould go on to play Rudolph in Pearl Bailey’s original company! He's donerather well for himself. Also, part of that group was Ellen Shade, a young aspiringopera singer at the time. She was also having an affair with Richard’s roommateat the time. She was so excited about Richard being cast in Dolly that she invitedhim to dinner to meet her parents. She also went over Richard’s lines with himone by one.   

Ellen Shade

Shade had aninternational career, but did not make many recordings. She was a diva at theSanta Fe Opera House for a while. When Richard was living in Los Angeles, shehad become famous. He went to see a production of  DieFledermaus with Ellen as the star. They went backstage and she didn’tremember him! It ended up being sour grapes all around. Dolly was the keystone of Richard’s career. It gave him nofear as far as understanding what he had to do on stage and the ability to takecenter stage when he knew that was what he was there for.  Sometimes when he sees that point, he triesto point that out without it looking like he’s pushing anything. That’s what it’sall about. When you get out there, you give the audience what they came for.There was a point before Richard made his first entrancefrom underneath the trap door in Horace’s Hay and Feed Store. During the lastsix weeks, in Lambertville, Richard used to think that he just couldn’t do thisanymore. Once he got out there on stage, everything was alright. One night hewas singing the opening part of Put OnYour Sunday Clothes, and a line of the song did not come to him. Because hewasn’t singing, everyone was looking at him to see what was happening. When Richard was in rehearsal, Jack Schlissel invited thecompany to see the Betty Grable company on Broadway. He thought she was ok. Hethought Dorothy Lamour was ok. He thought she came across on stage morenegative than she needed to be. Carol Channing lifted the show up even at theend, when she is berating Vandergelder. With Dorothy, it was fatalistic. Itdidn’t have the kind of strength and power and optimism that it should have, soit was kind of flat. People went to see a star and they got it. 
Alison England madeit work. Even at the end, it was all fantastic. Audiences went nuts for her atthe curtain calls. Audiences weren’t there to see a star. They didn’t know her.Richard thinks Jerry Herman is great and terrific. Richardremembers seeing Mame with AngelaLansbury. As far as Broadway music that is just fantastic, no one can touchhim. He actually sent Angela a fan letter at the time and she wrote back. Lucia Victor directed Richard’s tour. Don Lawrence was thedance assistant. They only had nine days of rehearsal before heading toBloomington, Indiana. Richard had the freedom to bring as much as he could tothe table and Lucia was happy with what he was doing. He wishes that he had hadmore coaching as far as his solos were concerned. Everything worked out and henever got any negative feedback. There was some kind of business in the flower shopthat Lucia was looking for that Richard couldn’t get a handle on. It didn’tcome to him after one or two tries. Due to time constraints, she cancelled thebusiness and moved on. He thought with more time, he would have been able tograsp it. Nine days was a lot of pressure. Lucia knew what she wanted and shegot it. Richard never had any interaction out of the show itself on a one toone basis. Why does Richard think the title song always stops the show?“Because all the guns point towards it.” Everything happens to focus on thatstairway. Once the Lamour company was performing at an army base in Missouri. Itwas an afternoon performance. The only thing they cared about as far as the setpiece was concerned to make the show work was putting up the staircase. It ledup to a blank wall. There was no entry point at the top of the stairs exceptgoing up the stairs. That was the way it had to be because when that curtainopens, Dolly comes down the stairs. That IS Hello,Dolly, probably one of the most iconic moments in musical theater history. Their Horace Vandergelder was Eric Brotherson. He had alsoappeared with Ethel Merman in Call MeMadam and with Noel Harrison in Half-A-Sixpence.He was a tall and elegant balding gray haired very suave dependable experiencedand wonderful. He didn’t have the necessary gruffness that David Burns had.Richard had only seen David Burns in a couple of television appearances and healways came across as gruff whether he was Vandergelder or not.    Once, when they were in Mississippi, they were held for ransomfor eight hours. On the bus and truck tour, there were three busses, two forthe cast and one for the orchestra, and a van for the set pieces. They weretraveling through Mississippi and they were stopped by the state troopers. Theyrequired a permit from the company. There was no permit and Richard doesn’teven know if it was legally necessary to have one. They wouldn’t let anyonemove from the time they were stopped for about six to eight hours. Calls weregoing back and forth to New York to either Schlissel or whoever was in theoffice. Eventually they were bailed out. Richard doesn’t understand what thesatisfaction of that encounter was. Andrea Bell, who was Minnie Fay in thatproduction, said that homophobia was rampant in the South and there were usual harassmentsfrom state troopers because of some of the cast members.  Nowadays, it seems as if the shows that get produced onBroadway are those shows that can convince others to back them. 
Whether the backershave a background in theater or not, “producers” are reaching out to thesepeople. We also now don’t have a uniformed audience to see the shows that AREgetting produced. People are going to cable channels or stand-up comedy clubs  or various other sources of entertainment. Itis so diffused that there really isn’t a “Broadway” audience anymore.   As of this writing, Richard is in rehearsal for The Laramie Project. As most of myreaders know, that is a very heavy show. Richard, who now resides in SalemOregon where this will be presented, can’t really think of anyone in his owncircle of friends that he would expect to come out and see that kind of aproject except for the people who are in the cast. People don’t go to the theaternow to be uplifted. If it’s a bad time for them or if there’s a lull in theirlives or if it is dramatically relevant, but not much else, then they don’twant to go and spend the time with it.  Rentin Salem Oregon was a hard pull to get people in. Their closing night once again was in Lambertville, NewJersey. Everyone was looking forward to that night. It had been a long tour. Atthe time, Richard, since his parents were living in New Jersey, he stayed withthem and commuted back and forth. It was about a sixty to sixty-five commuteeach way. In Lambertville, it was in the round with no real set. The scene inwhich Cornelius and Barnaby are about to be discovered in the hat shop, he hadto dive into a large coffin-like wicker basket. He says his knees are not thatgreat now, but at that time, he was very agile. He would dive eight to ten feetaway from it and hit it every time. There was one night where it rained atremendous downpour.  That was beating soheavily that the cast were screaming their lines and still were not able to beheard. At the time of this tour, Dorothy was going through a periodof her life in which this tour was a huge strain on her. 

William Ross Howard III and Dorothy Lamour

She was traveling withher husband, William Ross Howard III, a successful frozen foodbusinessman, was ill at the time.  Hedied in 1978. He died of emphysema. For them to drive the entire run, whichthey did in their Cadillac, she did not have the ability to enjoy the show asmuch as she probably would have liked. That’s too bad because it was a wonderful experience in so many ways.Richard felt like she wasn’t there completely because of that. Hello, Dolly! brings us to a New York thatbrings us a lot of joy and that joy is there for everybody to be a part of. Youdon’t see THAT New York any more. The history of New York and Yonkers and theHarmonia Gardens and places like that and the life that was lived at that timeis an era that has passed. This show captures the essence of that and it isfun. People can be transported if they just let themselves be part of it.   

Thank you Richard Leppig for the gifts you have given to the world and will continue to give!


With grateful XOXOXs ,


Check out my site celebrating my forthcoming book on Hello, Dolly!

I want this to be a definitive account of Hello, Dolly!  If any of you reading this have appeared in any production of Dolly, I'm interested in speaking with you!

Do you have any pics?

If you have anything to add or share, please contact me at Richard@RichardSkipper.com.


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