Garrett Lewis: Cornelius Hackl, Mary Martin London Company

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Garrett Lewis at the time of Hello, Dolly! 1966

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Garrett Lewis was afeatured regular performer on The RedSkelton Show for three seasons.  His career began while still incollege when he was offered the dance lead for a season at the Kansas CityStarlight Theatre. After that season, he went to New York. His first Broadwayshow was My Fair Lady followed by First Impressions in which heunderstudied the lead as well as performing the part. David Merrick laterbrought him back to New York in the intimate Los Angeles revue, Vintage 60. Aside from his televisionwork which included many major network shows at the time on both Coasts, heappeared extensively in clubs across the country, supporting such leadingladies as Anna Maria Alberghetti, Arlene Dahl, Dorothy Provine and others. Hewas a soloist in The Lido Show in Paris, and appeared as the male lead in Little Mary Sunshine in Paris.
   HELLO, DOLLY! played for 2844 performanceson Broadway at the St. James Theatre starting with Carol Channing in the titlerole.  When Carol did her first Nationaltour, her Cornelius Hackl was Garrett Lewis. A friend of Garrett’s, who was assisting Gower Champion onthe Broadway Company of Hello, Dolly, told him that a new road company wasgoing to be starting a West Coast tour and would be coming out to LA threemonths later to hold auditions. Garrett knew that Charles Nelson Reilly, an oldfriend of his, had played it on Broadway and most likely would continue withthe tour. Garrett had only one experience in summer stock years earlier at theKansas City Starlight Theater. Also, in that show was Charles Nelson Reilly! Garrettalso felt that he was the furthest from Reilly in type as one could imagine. Hisfriend told him to just keep it in mind because they would be casting. The Company was going to open the new Dorothy ChandlerPavilion in LA. It was built for opera and classic fare. Hello, Dolly would be the first stage show booked there. This wasCarol Channing’s first National Company. In addition to Garrett’s friendcalling him and asking him to audition, he also got a call from the companystage manager, Pat Tolson. Garrett’s name had been given to Pat. Garrett wasdoing The Red Skelton Show on CBS atthe time and did not think he could even fit an audition into his schedule. Thatwas a five day work schedule. He was also preparing an act with Cyd Charise atthe time. It was for a single gig, for him to partner her in Lake Tahoe. Theywere going to be recreating the Slaughteron Tenth Avenue ballet. At this time, Garrett had an apartment on Newport Beach thathe would retreat to on weekends. The auditions were being held on a Monday andGarrett said he would try and get there on his break. He was being very cavilerabout it. He thought it was a long shot. On his way in to CBS on that Mondaymorning, he stopped at a local music store and picked up a couple of the songsfrom the show for his audition. He went to the audition and Gower said, “Well!It is lovely to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” After the auditionthey talked for a bit and Gower gave him the big monologue for Cornelius andtold him to go out and look it over. He went out, looked it over, came back inand read it, and Gower said, “Thank you.” He left and thought nothing moreabout it. They hired someone else and they were in rehearsals. OnFriday night, he and a friend of his, Howard Jeffrey, who was Jerome Robbins’ assistant,were having dinner at his favorite health food restaurant Marge and GowerChampion along with Blake Edwards is sitting nearby. Howard pointed them outand Garrett went over to say hello. Garrett wished Gower much success withDolly and went back to rejoin Howard. Howard pointed out to Garrett that Gowerkept glancing over at their table. The next day, Garrett went to rehearsals at CBS. They weregetting ready to tape and he was already in make-up. The stage manager came totell Garrett he had a phone call. It was Pat Tolson asking Garrett to go andsee Gower to audition again. They were rehearsing at the Equity Hall downtown. Garretttold him they were getting ready to tape. He asked how long it would be beforethey would tape. He was told he had about ninety minutes. He then told Pat hewould be right down and went downtown. He met Gower in the back of the theater and Gower told himhe just wanted to see him again.
Gower asked him to do the monologue again. Hedid, and, once again, he got “Thank you.” Garrett is wondering, “What is thisall about?”  Garrett felt put out. He hadbeen called out of a taping for what he thought at the time was a waste of histime. By the time he got back to CBS, everyone had been looking for him. He wastold he had a phone call from the David Merrick office. He was told he had thepart and they asked him if he could start the next day. He worked out his dealand started rehearsals the next day. It was a Friday.

Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, Circa 1966

On Saturday, they travelled to San Diego to begin the tourthere. The first performance was on a Sunday night.
Garrett had one run throughon Saturday before opening that Sunday night!
Gower had replaced the actor whohad originally been cast in the role.
They played a week of “previews” in SanDiego. Then they went to the Dorothy Candler Pavilion in Los Angeles for theirofficial opening.Garrett felt the role of Dolly Levi seemed as if it waswritten for Carol Channing. He had a great rapport with her and her husband,Charles Lowe. He found that with Carol, actors were pretty much on their own.They didn’t get much help or support from her. If something went wrong, shewould deal with it. She seemed very happy with Garrett. They got along famouslyand he loved her. She was the ultimate professional and it was a wonderful timefor him.

Charles Pierce as Carol Channing

While performing the show in Los Angeles, Garrett also shota couple of television pilots. From there, they went to San Francisco to playthe Opera House. While in San Francisco, they were dark on Sundays. One night,they went to see famed female impersonator, Charles Pierce, who later became afriend of Garrett’s. Garrett and Harvey Evans thought they were being anonymousaudience members. Shortly into the top of the show, Charles started singing Hello, Dolly as Carol Channing and wentand sat on Garrett’s lap. He had seen the show! Charles recognized Garrett andHarvey in the audience.

Carol Channing in 1979

While in San Francisco, one day on his day off, he wentsailing off the coast of Sausalito. When he came back to his apartmentafterward, there was a message for him to call Gower. He called and Gower askedhim how he would feel about going to London. At the first run through with theMary Martin Company at the Drury Lane Theater, Carleton Carpenter fell off thestage and hurt his hip. Garrett had never been to London and was excited at theprospect. He didn’t even own a passport at that time. Garrett was told not toworry about that and was instructed not to tell Carol. Gower said he would dealwith it. Carol had really wanted to be the one to take Dolly to London at thetime and was upset that it was Mary Martin instead of her. Carol wouldeventually take Dolly to the Drury Lane in 1979. He did the show the next night and the morning after that,he received a passport from the David Merrick office. He did the show thatnight and caught the red eye to London. He was picked up at the airport andtaken to The Savoy Hotel where Gower was staying. He practiced with Gower andthen he went to the theater for an orchestra rehearsal. Gower brought theentire company together and introduced Gower and told everyone that he was notchanging a thing. Garrett was stepping into everything that Carleton had done.Carleton was there that day and justifiably was not happy about the circumstances.Garrett was then taken over and introduced to David Merrick who was sitting ona folding chair on the side of the stage. Monday night was the first previewwith the Mother in attendance.Garrett went on not knowing the blocking except what herehearsed with Mary Martin in the Dancing number. Mary Martin was different from Carol Channing but wasequally wonderful.   Hello,Dolly! premiered in the West End at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane onDecember 2, 1965 and ran for 794 performances. Champion directed andchoreographed, and the cast starred Mary Martin as Dolly and Loring Smith asHorace Vandergelder, with Johnny Beecher as Barnaby, Garrett Lewis asCornelius, Mark Alden as Ambrose Kemper and Marilynn Lovell as Irene Molloy.Dora Bryan replaced Martin during the run.Garrett stayed with the show as long as an American couldstay with a British Company at that time, one year. It depended upon the demandof one’s role in the show. If they could be replaced by British actors, theywould be. The first people to go were Judith Drake as Ernestine and otherplayers on that tier. Marilynn Lovell left shortly after that and Mary Martinleft in May of 1966. Dora Bryan then took over the role of Dolly Levi.

Garrett Lewis, Dora Bryan and Company

Dora Bryan was a lovely lady and rehearsed forever! Shestarted out playing it very much like Mary Martin and very straight with noEnglish humor…at first. About two months into it, she suddenly became theBrighton Beach comedienne that everyone loved. Garrett didn’t know her prior tothis and had no frame of reference. She was a Music Hall entertainer. She wasfamous for certain things. She began adding all of those elements to the show. Dorastayed with the show until it closed. When Garrett left the show, he went to Spain and did amovie. Garrett revisited Dolly several years later in Anaheim withplayers from various Dolly productions. He played opposite Joanne Horne asIrene Molloy. Patricia Munsel played Dolly. He then got a call to do it inHawaii with Carole Cook. He thought Patricia Munsel was fine. He LOVED Carole!They shared a house in Hawaii. The director of the Hawaiian Company was tryingto change everything from Gower’s original concept. Carole and Garrett went ballistic.They desired to do the tried and true. Their thought was don’t mess withsuccess. They knew the show. Carole had starred in the Australian and NewZealand Companies. They were very copacetic as to what Hello, Dolly was and should be. They had two weeks of rehearsals.

Garrett Lewis, Carole Cook, Georgia Engel, Gary Alexander, Peggy Ann Siegmund (Courtesy: Georgia Engel)

Garrett, Jill Martin, Billy Boyle, Coco Ramirez (Dora Bryan Company

Garrett was also responsible for hiring a young unknown toplay Minnie Fay in that production. Her name is Georgia Engel. The auditionswere held for the rest of the Company in Hawaii and Garrett thought she wasterrific. There was something magical about her performance.
They also becamegood friends. Georgia actually developed a crush on Garrett. Her father was inthe Coast Guard and there were several catered dinners with the Company and theCoast Guard on the base at Waikiki. It was incredible and Garrett also lovedher…as a friend. Georgia had this innate gift to play that quality that theworld has come to love. She was funny without being physical. It was thatvoice. Interesting side note, Georgia’s sister was Miss Hawaii. The last timeGarrett saw Georgia, he was designing something at Universal Studios and shewas on the lot.  Looking back, Garrett was a very put together guy at thetime that Hello, Dolly came his way.After Carol Channing was cast in Dolly, the rest of the casting was done tomake larger than life cartoonish characters. Garrett brought a more realisticapproach with a great sense of humor to the role.

Garrett Lewis and Jill Martin

Jerry Herman captured all of the qualities that work in agreat musical naiveté, dreamers; those that are striving and desiring for more.This show’s story proves that it does happen. This show is about making one’sdreams come true. In the case of Dolly herself, she is a charming lady. This isan appealing character who makes her life work.Garrett has had two careers since Dolly. Right after Dolly,he did a few movies. He was also cast in Applausewith a run of the show contact but ended up not doing it.  He has since stopped performing. He believesthat one gets what they dream of in life.
Garrett desired to be on the stagedesperately and he got it, but he didn’t desire it to the point that somepeople who go into the theater makes it their lives. He just desired to be aworking entertainer. He didn’t want to be a STAR. He never waited a table inhis life. He never had the will to just work at it. Opportunities came his wayand he took them. At the beginning of his career, he went right from summerstock into My Fair Lady. After Hello,Dolly came along; he went right into STARstarring Julie Andrews at Twentieth Century Fox. After leaving performing, hebecame a designer for film and television which is what he retired at. He didtoo many things very well and it was never hard. He is not one to say oneshould concentrate on one thing. He thinks that if one has multiple interestsand one can be expressed in those areas, go for it.

Dora Bryan and Garrett

He has designed houses forBarbra Streisand and Herbert Ross. That led him into designing movies. When anopportunity presents itself and one is not prepared and does not take thechance, it may not happen again. There are many fond memories of his Dolly days, but nothingcompares with the night the Queen Mother came to see the show in London. Thatnight, he also met the Queen and Lord Mountbatten. When the curtain rises andthe audience sings God Save the Queen,it is magic. The Royal Family is sitting up in a box stage right.
Garrett feelsthat he is an Anglophile anyway! He loved living there. Hello, Dolly is obviously an experience that he will notsoon forget. It afforded him the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people.It took him to London. He became great friends with Mary Martin and herhusband, Richard Halliday. It was a wonderful life changing experience. Heloved it. Appearing at The Drury Lane Theater was a big WOW.     
  
Thank you Garrett Lewis 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 desire 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!


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


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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 Karen Morrow on Hello, Dolly!
Thank you, to all the mentioned in this blog!

  Here's to an INCREDIBLE tomorrow for ALL...with NO challenges!


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!