Melissa Hart on Hello, Dolly!

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Melissa Hart is an actress, singer, and teacher. She made her Broadwaydebut in 1966 as an ensemble member in Jerry Bock's The Apple Tree. As BarbaraHarris's understudy, she replaced the actress as the various heroines in thatmusical for several performances. 
In 1969 she took over the role of SallyBowles in the original production of John Kander's Cabaret; a role she hadpreviously performed in the musical's first National Tour. In 1970 she createdthe role of Meredith in the original Broadway cast of Tom Mankiewicz's Georgy; aperformance for which she garnered a Tony Award nomination. She soon afterperformed the role of Fran Kubelik in the National Tour of Burt Bacharach's Promises, Promises.

John Oxenford

Melissa has also appeared in two productions of Hello,Dolly! Once in college at Boca Raton`s Florida Atlantic University whichcelebrated its 25th anniversary with Hello,Dolly in 1989!  The next time Melissa descended those famedstairs, it was as a professional actress, 1999, at Westchester’s BroadwayTheater opposite Walter Charles as Horace Vandergelder.
When Hello, Dollyopened in the ‘60s, it was so much a part of America’s consciousness that itwas impossible for Melissa not to be aware of it. Out of the Broadway Dolly’s,Melissa only saw Ethel Merman. It would not be until the ’94 revival that shewould see Carol Channing in the role. More about that production later. Melissawas very aware of the show going in to see Merman’s production. Melissa had notperformed it yet. Melissa does remember the two “new” songs in the show, shesongs that were originally written for Ethel but were cut when she declined todo the show originally.  Melissa thoughtthey were wonderful. Melissa moved to New York and worked on Broadway in the daysbefore body miking, she studied voice with Ellen Falls at New York City Opera.Melissa was very interested in resonances and she was very aware, at the St.James Theater that Ethel Merman’s voice literally rang off of the back wall.Melissa was stunned and marveled by that. Melissa had been trained classicallyand was fascinated by Merman’s sound and presence. The show HAD been originallywritten for Merman.  It was a reallygreat treat. It would be twenty four years before Melissa would see CarolChanning in the role in her final tour.  The first time Melissa played Dolly, it was her Master’s ThesisRole at Florida’s Atlantic University which was celebrating its 25th anniversary.It is a huge institution with a wonderful theater department. She did a lot ofresearch going back to when Thornton Wilder wrote The Matchmaker for RuthGordon.  The ORIGINAL version was writtenfor a valet, not a woman. Thornton Wilder wrote it for his friend, Ruth Gordon. He changed the valet to a woman. Inchanging it to a woman who, at that period in history didn’t have a lot ofpower, a woman who makes her way in the world doing something that she has “cobbledtogether”, with great spirit, a widow, he gives her great heft. Then there arethe love stories. They are parallel , funny, different. They are just grand.There is such optimism in the piece. Then there is the great music for whichMelissa feels Jerry Herman has been underrated, although he finally got a Lifetime Tony Award AND a Kennedy Center Honor. The melancholy of Ribbons Down My Back sung by a young widowalso contributes to all of this being a very universal story.
When Melissa portrayed Dolly in college, she was not a kid. Shewent back to school as an adult to get a Masters in acting/directing becauseshe wasn’t being considered an actress in Florida, she was a “musical theateractress”. There were many factors that drove her back to get her masters. Shehad great tutelage with Zoe Caldwell with whom she had studied with for threeyears in south Florida. Melissa was a wife and a mom and a commuting student.Part of the research Melissa did led her to the original one act from 1835, theJohn Oxenford play, A Day Well Spent. 

Ruth Gordon as Dolly Gallagher Levi in The Matchmaker

He was an English dramatist, from Camberwell, London, England. Melissa foundthe play in the fine arts library at the University of Florida. She was able tomake a copy of that and include it in her master’s thesis. That was thegroundwork from which all of this came. That was so fabulous. That one act ismore about the two young men and the valet. Then Tom Stoppard’s version wascalled On The Razzle. A big part ofMelissa’s research also included screening the black and white film version of The Matchmaker starring Shirley Boothand Paul Ford. Her Dolly is so wonderful. There is so much about Dolly, thecharacter, that is not often present in the musical form. Melissa drew from thestraight play, especially Shirley Booth’s portrayal. She did the collegeperformance in the midst of all this research. By the time Melissa did it inWestchester, she really KNEW this woman. 

Poster for the original Royal National Theatre production

She was able to say to the costumedesigner, for example, that she wanted a boa that was really scrawny. She didn’tdesire many costumes. It was perfect. Dolly doesn’t have any money. She livesfrom hand to mouth. There are all of these resplendent productions where thereis no attempt to understand who this woman truly is. She can barely rub two nickelstogether. She keeps on keeping on with a great sense of humor. Melissa wouldlove to do it again to emphasize these aspects even more so. Dolly is a mover.She is Irish. She married a Jewish man. At that time, that was pretty heady.She is now a widow to a man who obviously had a great deal of wisdom. Melissaloves the entire speech to him where Dolly is saying goodbye leading into Before the Parade Passes By. There is alot of depth in this script. There are all kinds of reasons why Hello, Dolly is still done. When it isdone in a way in which the creative team really looks at who Dolly truly is, itis even more triumphant. Westchester came about for Melissa the old fashioned way,she auditioned for it. Melissa feels that it is time for a Broadway revival. Ithas been seventeen years since it was last seen on Broadway. She thinks JudyKaye would make a great Dolly. It also depends upon the director. It would benice to see a director pull out the “not so beautiful” production. Melissawould really love to see a realistic production. Tovah Feldshuh’s Paper MillPlayhouse production went that route. Check out chapter on Tovah Feldshuh.

Paul Ford and Shirley Booth in the film version of The Matchmaker

What were used for Dolly/Melissa’s dumplings? Tissue over lightbulbs. As mentioned earlier, the only Broadway Dolly that Melissasaw prior to taking on the role herself was Ethel Merman. Although Melissa onlysaw her on stage once, her take is that Merman was always Merman. She was aforce on the stage. “She wasn’t a great actress. She didn’t change. She wasMerman.”
Melissa has also played Mama Rose. In order to play eitherof these roles, the actress taking them on has to have total stamina. At thetime of Westchester’s Dolly, Melissa was dealing with some vocal techniqueissues. She was able to fortify what she knew about breath control when she wasdragging Walter Charles as Horace around the stage during the Motherhood March. The WestchesterBroadway stage is huge. The hat shop scene was relatively small in thisproscenium house. 

Mary Martin, one of the many Dollys

It was a three quarters thrust and Melissa is dragging her costars around the stage. It was very taxing. One of the things that Melissa hasbeen doing for some time with both musicals and straight plays is to learn hershows on the treadmill! When she was working on cruise ships, she would go downto the gym while people were eating and sing her show full out. On her dayswhen she did two shows, she does a two mile power walk in Manhattan. This wouldhelp her to start to warm up vocally. She would then go up to Westchester’sBroadway Dinner Theater. She would do a matinee followed by a one hour powernap. She would get up, have some protein, and do another two mile power walkand warm up at the end of it. That’s how she played Dolly Levi! An actress hasto be physically fit in order to act and sing that show eight times a week. Shedoesn’t consider herself any different from any other actress. She just doesn’thave her personal trainer! She has approached all roles since 1986. She startedpower walking when she was down in Florida.

Pearl Bailey as Dolly

If she had her life to live over, Melissa probably wouldhave stayed in New York the first time. It was an emotional choice andsomething she had to do at the time. In hindsight, she is grateful she did. Asfar as her instrument is concerned, she would probably do nothing different.She was very fortunate to have the voice teacher she did. Working with EllenFall was instrumental in Melissa desiring to teach voice and she has done sosince 1985. She continued to study and work with Richard Miller at OverlandConservatory. She was a part of the New York Singing Teachers’ Association. Shehas worked with wonderful voice researchers and healthy vocal people. Melissais still interested in that and how people still sing on Broadway andhealthfully. She was truly fortunate.  Sheplayed 857 performances of Sally Bowles on Broadway in Cabaret. She never missed a performance and she was never unable tosing. In fact, she has never lost her voice or been unable to sing correctly.
The depth of Dolly was so interesting to Melissa because shecomes from a place of “less than”, not less than psychologically or physicallyor emotionally. It’s less than because of her economic situation. She has tofind things within herself in order to survive. Therefore, she is resilient. Shegets a lot of joy out of putting people together. She knows she is good atthat. Working on her, Melissa found that everything that she turns her hand tois to help people and to help them find happiness. Melissa continued to tweak her performance after she opened.She always does. Melissa’s Horace at the Westchester Broadway Theater wasWalter Charles. See chapter on him. “He was wonderful!” He was so fantastic. Hehas a wonderful quality of being a lovely and loving curmudgeon. That is a veryspecial quality. He has gone on to an incredible career since then. Being ableto tease and cajole and play around with someone like that on stage is a lot offun. It IS called a PLAY. She remembers working with him and thinking this isgreat fun.

The original, Carol Channing

The evolution of Dollyis an interesting journey. She became the central character for a number ofreasons. She is a worker among workers. She is humbled in that way. As the songgoes, She Puts Her Hand In. She makesthings happen but she needs people in order for things to happen. Melissa hasbeen fortunate to do a lot of work on stage. 
One thing that Dolly and Melissahave in common is that Melissa, too, is a worker among workers. 
Melissa willlook people in the eyeball and work with them. Melissa has a desire to alwaysbe there for others.  Dolly reinforcedthat with her. 
Melissa is constantly drawn back to the fact that Dolly is asurvivor. She is more a survivor than a manipulator. She’s a manipulator in agood way. She’s not a manipulator to hurt anyone. When she manipulates, it’sfor their own good. Audiences are drawn to Dolly’s ability to laugh at herself. 

Ginger Rogers replaced Carol Channing on Broadway

When she realizes that she needs to let go and to be let go from her late husband,which is a very important thing. A lot of people have had that life experience.Melissa has worked in MANY dinner theaters. The worst partof that experience is slipping on the mushrooms when you are rushing throughthe kitchen to make an entrance.
As mentioned earlier, Melissa saw Carol Channing in the 1995Broadway revival. Melissa was concerned for Carol as she watched thatproduction. She was concerned for her safety. Watching her, Melissa realizedthe legacy. She was and is respectful of that. Melissa needed to see her do it.It wasn’t her Dolly. Of course, it wouldn’t be. It was really hard to have afree look at it because Melissa had a lot of concerns about the production. As of this writing, Melissa just recently played Big Mama inCat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Guthrie.She is hired in the Twin Cities more as an actress than a “musical comedyactress.” Because of the Guthrie’s position there, there is more straighttheater than musical. 

Martha Raye replaced Ginger Rogers

Melissa believes that Dolly is as grand and as pivotal andas iconic a character as Lady Bracknell, for example. Melissa doesn’t find anydifference and her approach is no different with either medium. These days, Melissa has a private studio. 
She still exploresa composer’s writings in terms of the subtext of a song. She is still veryinterested in all of this. In fact, as of this writing, she is currentlyinvolved in a reading of a brand new piece being presented in the Twin Cities.She is also developing her own piece about a torch singer. Melissa feels that she has an obligation to the nextgeneration to make them aware of the theater tradition that she came through. Sheis now working at a Performing Arts High School having been a college professorin her “other life”. She has been at this performing arts high school in St.Paul now for four years. She is the chair of musical theater. These kids knowher resume. She doesn’t let them forgot what came before. She teaches anintroduction to musical theater. These are high school kids. They have to knowthe legacy. Theater students know that it comes from the Greeks. MusicalTheater students should all know from whence it came. She wants these kids toknow who the composers are, what they’ve written, and why it is so important.

Betty Grable and Max Showalter led the third cast

When Hello, Dolly starring Melissa Hart and Walter Charlesclosed at Westchester’s Broadway Theater, several of the ensemble receivedtheir Equity card. That was very important to Melissa. When Melissa was in grad school, she was in Josh Logan’slast musical. She worked with Howard Da Silva who had been blacklisted duringthe McCarthy era. It was a production about Huckleberry Finn. This actor playedthe King. He read a passage about “how this came to be.” This young kid playingFinn said, “Let’s just skip that.” Da Silva responded, “Absolutely not. You haveto know what we fought for and why we are here.” So when these new Equity members emerged from WestchesterBroadway Theater, it was really important to Melissa. When she did Dolly at BocaRaton`s Florida Atlantic University , it was a celebration of this theaterdepartment.  Over the course of hercareer there have been so many openings and closings that she no longer getsemotional. 

Groucho Marx visits Broadway's sixth Dolly, Phyllis Diller

That being said, both of these productions are very special to her.At the University, she had this wonderful costume designer who was superb. Shehad a huge hat with a bird on it. She hated to let go of that. Both productionsare now in her memory bank. Regarding both costume designers, Melissa knows and respectsthat they have a vision for the piece. Having directed, she is very interestedin what their vision is. It is a very collaborative art form.  When she went to the costume designer atWestchester and shared her thoughts on the look and feel of Dolly, it wasamazing that he got that right away. It really helped her in playing the partthe way she felt HER Dolly needed to be played. Hello, Dolly, to Melissa Hart, was an enriching experience. Thatincluded the ability to play such a rich leading role in a musical in which thecharacter is warm, supportive, and nurturing , and overcoming a lot of odds. Melissadug deep in the text and research to pull everything out of this woman and outof the character that maybe the audience had not been privy to before and theywere better for it! 

The only Dolly Melissa saw on Broadway, the one Hello, Dolly was written for, Ethel Merman!

          
Thank you Melissa Hart 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!
I want this to be a celebration of Hello, Dolly!  If any of you reading this have appeared in any production of Dolly, I'm interested in speaking with you! I am not an expert...I am an enthusiast!


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 Joel Hatch 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 DAYRichard 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!