Jerry Bell on productions of Hello, Dolly starring Dorothy Lamour and Yvonne DeCarlo

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(Courtesy: Glen Charlow)

Jerry Bell was born in Birmingham, Alabama with a dream of Broadway.Hello, Dolly starring Dorothy Lamour was Jerry’s first bigjob in his career. He had done some summer stock prior, but nothing on thisscale. This was 1967. He simply went to an open call in New York.
Jerry and Dorothy became good friends. He used to get aChristmas card from her every year with the American flag on it. She was verypatriotic.
Dorothy was also very bright. No matter what happened, nothingever threw her on stage. She had worked with Hope and Crosby. They improvisedeverything. As soon as they showed up on the set and started filming, they justthrew away the script. They purposely tried to break her up. That gave heramazing training. When they opened, they opened in Bloomington, Indiana onJerry’s birthday, November 14^th. They never got through the finaldress rehearsal the night before. They ended at midnight. They had to by Equityrule. The next day, their first performance, after the Dolly number, they bring her table andchair out in order to do the eating scene with Vandergelder. Jerry was supposedto bring out her chair. He was so winded after the title number that he couldnot think of anything else beyond getting to the water fountain.   The music for her chair was perfectly timedfor a “bump” as she sat. As he was at the water fountain, he heard the musicand thought, “Oh? What’s that?” He suddenly realized that he had missed hiscue. He ran back on stage as they were playing it again. She turned to the conductorand said, “Could you play that again, please?” A fast acting “Rudolph” broughtthe chair as the orchestra repeated the musical accompaniment. This time itworked as it was supposed to. She looked out at the audience and said, “Now,that’s the way it is supposed to be.”

Dorothy Lamour Company

Afterward, Jerry went to her dressing room to apologize. Shetold him not to worry about it, those things happen. Jerry stayed with the showthe entire length of the tour, nine months. A year later, Jerry appeared in Dolly with Yvonne De Carlo.She, unlike Dorothy Lamour, was the very typical movie star. When De Carlodecided that she was not going to do a number, it was out of the show thatnight.  So Long, Dearie was cut halfthe time. That is Dolly’s ONLY solo number. She would just tire out and decidethat she was not going to do it. A year later, she was doing Follies on Broadway, playing Carlotta and singing I’m Still Here. Roy and Donna Barry werea husband and wife team in that show. Roy once said to Jerry, “Well, she’s atit again. 

Yvonne DeCarlo Company

If she has a problem trying to find a place to park her car, shewould tell the stage manager, ‘I’m not doing the show tonight. I cannot find aplace to park.’” Dorothy Lamour would never stoop to those antics. The Yvonne De Carlo had already been on the road for sixweeks when Jerry joined the company. With De Carlo’s Company, there were a lotof one night stands. Dorothy Lamour’s Company had longer engagements in eachcity. Both were bus and trucks. De Carlo’s was produced by Ken Gaston, not Merrick, and wasa very cheaply produced Company. He was not very professional. He was someonewith a lot of money having fun at everyone else’s expense. 
The sets were basedon Oliver Smith's Broadway designs but scaled way down; the costumes wereimpressive recreations of Freddy Wittop's originals. 
Gower Champion's originalstaging and choreography were recreated by Lucia Victor. De Carlo played thepart with an Irish brogue (Dolly GALLAGHER Levi). Don De Leo played HoraceVandergelder.Once they were playing Springfield, Illinois, but their costumes and sets went to Springfield, Missouri! They did the entire show without costumes and sets!
Offstage, Yvonne was nice. She wasn’t as approachable asDorothy. It was a really hard time for Yvonne. She had married the stuntmanRobert Drew Morgan, whom she met on the set of Shotgun, on November 21, 1955. They had two sons, Bruce Ross (b.1956) and Michael (1957-1997). Morgan also had a daughter, Bari Lee (b. 1947),from a previous marriage. Morgan's left leg had to be amputated after he wasrun over by a train while doing stunt work on How the West Was Won (1962). However, his contract with MGM assumedno responsibility for the accident. 

Yvonne De Carlo

De Carlo and Morgan filed a $1.4 millionlawsuit against the studio, claiming her husband was permanently disabled. Sheonly did Hello, Dolly to pay themedical bills. She wasn’t having a good time. Jerry doesn’t feel that sheenjoyed herself during this tour. De Carlo divorced Morgan in June 1974.Audiences liked her, but in that role, audiences can’t helpbut like Dolly. Dorothy got better applause that Yvonne. She was more lovedbecause of the Road movies.   
Dorothy Lamour desired to play Dolly on Broadway, but alas,it didn’t happen. Dorothy was a great singer.  Dolly’s determination to rejoin the human race and marry HoraceVandergelder is a theme that audiences still gravitate to. He thinks the showshould absolutely come back to Broadway. He says no one will ever be as greatas Channing. He thinks Bette Midler would make a great Dolly.

Yvonne DeCarlo (Courtesy: Bruce Morgan)

The fact that there was so much dancing for the ensemble isthe aspect that Jerry loved most about being in Hello, Dolly!  Jerry saw almost every Dolly on Broadway. Carol Channing: SpectacularThe main thing with Ginger Roger was that she looked sopretty, so gorgeous. She was fun and charming.Martha Raye was wonderful. She brought tears to your eyes.She WAS vulgar at times. During the courtroom scene, she took a sip of waterand did a spit take and said, “It’s water!” That was NOT Gower’s staging. Itwas tacky.Betty Grable was a favorite star of Jerry’s. He had been afan since he was a young boy. Her movies were popular during his youth. She wasa dream come true to see on stage. Pearl Bailey was a laugh riot. After Channing, Merman was Jerry’s favorite Dolly. Mermanwas another favorite of Jerry’s. 

Ethel Merman (b. Queens, NY, January 16, 1908; d. New York City, February 15 ...masterworksbroadway.com

The very first show he ever saw in New Yorkwas Merman in Gypsy. She just blewhim away every time he ever saw her. The most exciting night he ever spent in the theater was thenight that she and Mary Martin did their benefit for the Museum of the City ofNew York, Together on Broadway, May15^th, 1977. It was just unbelievable. They did a double Dollyentrance at the top of Act Two that brought down the house. The only othertheatrical experience, for Jerry, that matched that was Judy Garland atCarnegie Hall, April 23^rd, 1961. Jerry did not see Phyllis Diller. He also saw Eve Arden do it in Chicago at The ShubertTheater in the summer of 1966 as Miss Channing’s replacement. He liked her alot.When a show like Hello,Dolly closes, an entire company is then out of work. It is a low keyexperience. Everyone feels like they will never work again. Jerry had a fifteen year dance career and thenhe started his own off-Broadway theater company called Bandwagon. They didrevivals of musicals. Jerry Herman once did a benefit for Bandwagon. Jerry Bellloves Jerry Herman! “He is the sweetest man in the world. He is terrifically talented.”Hello, Dolly is close to being Jerry’s favorite musicalbecause of the joy it exudes. His favorite musical, however, is Follies.

Dorothy Lamour

Thank you Jerry Bell for the gifts you have given to the world and continue to give!


With grateful XOXOXs ,

Check out my site celebrating my forthcoming book on Hello, Dolly!
This book will be a celebration of this great American classic.
 If any of you reading this have appeared in any production of Dolly, I'm interested in speaking with you!

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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 Judy Knaiz, Gussie Grainger/Ernestina Simple in the film, 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 DAYRichard Skipper                       
This Blog is dedicated to ALL THE DOLLYS and ANYONE who has EVER had a connection with ANY of them on ANY Level!