Nicole Barth on Hello, Dolly!

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Nicole Barth first started taking dance class for healthreasons, although her mother said she always “jiggled around.” Her family movedto New York from France during the war. She was a very nervous child, threw upa lot, etc. The doctor said to give her some exercises to get her hunger up andthat’s when she started dancing. She didn’t like her first teacher because shewas always telling her she wasn’t doing it right. Luckily enough, she had acousin who was almost like a father to her, working in Woolworth’s. RitaMoreno’s mother was also working there. That’s how Nicole found her first danceteacher in New York. The bug bit immediately. She had found the right teachers.Jack Stanley and Jack Pottinger were there names. Nicole started in tap. JackStanley told her that if she desired a career in dance, she also neededclassical ballet training, so she started ballet classes. She did four classesa day on Saturday and two or three classes a day during the week.Then she went to the High School of Performing Arts. She didsummer stock when she was fifteen after graduating and then went on to college. Her first summer stock job she calls “The Stupid Prince” (The Student Prince).It was a gorgeous production in Hyannis in theater in the round. The firstnight that she had to perform, they dimmed the lights, she couldn’t see andnever got on stage in the first act! She kept going up and down the aisles. Inthe second act, they got her on stage. It was a great summer. There were a lotof people from City Opera performing there. They also did The Wizard of Oz that summer. Julius Rudel from City Center was theconductor that summer. She got her Equity card that first summer. Things were alittle different then. Nowadays, there are different requirements to get anEquity card. She went back to New York and started auditioning andeventually got her first Broadway show, TakeMe Along in 1959, based on the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness, with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book byJoseph Stein and Robert Russell. This was produced by David Merrick. It starredWalter Pidgeon and Jackie Gleason. Also in this cast was Valerie Harper. Sheand Nicole have remained friends to this day. That was also Valerie’s Broadwaydebut, as well. Valerie then went into L’ilAbner as a replacement.After Take Me Along,Nicole went into Carnival, again withDavid Merrick and Bob Merrill. Right after that she did a show called Nowhere to Go but Up. Joel Craig wasalso in that cast. She thinks it would work today. 

Choreographer Ron Field

Ron Field was thechoreographer. Michael Bennett was the assistant choreographer. The cast alsoincluded Martin Balsam and Dorothy Loudon and Tom Bosley. It was a fun showwith a lot of fun people. That happened just before Dolly. Also before Dolly, Nicole was doing a summer replacementtelevision show. She went into Dolly almost on a fluke. Nicole was already established as a Broadway gypsy when Hello, Dolly came along. Nicole wascalled to come in for the final call. In those days, when the choreographersknew the artists, they would personally call them in. These artists rarely wentto the initial calls. They would come in for the final calls. That’s how sheheard about it and she was cast immediately as part of the ensemble. The cast, as we now know it, was in place except Barnaby.There were two other actors in place before they got to Jerry Dodge. Nicole had met Carol prior to Dolly. She was one of theguests on the summer television series Nicole was on, The Keith Purcell Show. Streisand also appearedon that show. They had a lot of fun people. 
Itwas sponsored by Jackie Gleason. Nicole grew to respect Carol more and more as they continuedto work together. Nicole remembers observing how she stood. It was like alittle girl. She also dressed like a little girl, with short skirts etc. Shewas interesting. Nicole remembers thinking that Carol was a very unique person.Nicole had also seen her in GentlemenPrefer Blondes.Once rehearsals started, Gower spent so much time working onThe Waiter’s Gallop and the titlenumber, that there was a lot of sitting around for the rest of the company justtwiddling their thumbs. There was a lot of shushing going on from Gower. Sheknew from Carnival that NOBODY stoodbehind him when he was working. He didn’t care who it was. He just didn’t allowit.
Nicole loved it when they were standing around the pianowith Jerry Herman. It was very exciting. They rehearsed for six weeks at the Mark Hellinger Theaterbefore heading to The Fisher Theater in Detroit. That was the standardrehearsal period. 

Original program for Hello, Dolly (Fisher Theater)

Contrary to various reports, Nicole never thought the showwas ever in trouble. She also feels that the rest of the company felt the sameway. She knew there was tension going on between Merrick and Gower, but shenever felt the show was in danger there. It was a short rehearsal period in Detroit, not like today. They rehearsed for one week. She knew nothing about Charles Strouse and LeeAdams being brought in until Gower lost his temper. The first publicperformance of Hello, Dolly, two newsongs were going in that were “not Jerry’s”. That was the “rumor”circulating.  The rumor was that BobMerrill had written those two songs, Eleganceand The Motherhood March.Their first performance in Detroit was November 18^th,a Monday night. On Friday afternoon, November 22^nd, PresidentKennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
Nicole very clearly remembers that day. They were in thebasement of the theater. Bonnie Schon (ensemble) broke the news to the cast. Everythingshut down. Nicole remembers watching the news coverage with Lowell Purvis andEd Kressley. There was no show for several days. They did have a rehearsal theevening of the 22^nd.

President and Mrs. Kennedy at National Theatre, 25 September 1962 (Photo ...weta.org)

The Kennedy’s were supposed to come see the show at TheNational Theater in Washington, DC  in December of '63.Because of the mood of the nation, the Hello, Dolly Companydid not know how they were going to be received in Washington. It almost feltdoomed in a way.On New Year’s Eve, just before midnight, Gower told theCompany he had a surprise for them and played Louis Armstrong’s recording of Hello, Dolly which had just beenrecorded earlier that month.Two weeks later, they were at the St. James Theater in NewYork City. They teched in the theater on Tuesday, January 14^th. Theydid a matinee and evening performance on January 15^th, andofficially opened on Broadway on January 16^th. That was pretty muchthe norm. The first time that Nicole had a long preview period was when she didSugar.It was a very exciting old Broadway type of opening. Thereviews were mostly raves. In the Dancingnumber, Nicole had a bit that was a favorite of hers. There was a trio stepthat was also one of Gower’s favorites. She remembers one of the reviewers saidin that number that the dancers looked as if they just skimmed across thefloor, that they barely touched the ground. Nicole was thrilled that thereviewer got it.
When the show opened, there was a number after the Dollynumber called Come and Be My Butterfly. Gower was never happy with that number.In what is unprecedented, he kept trying to make that number work. When Gowerstarted getting the Mary Martin Company ready, he replaced that number with thePolka Contest. That is still in the show till this day. The Polka Contest alsowent into Carol’s first  National tour. 

Nicole Barth and David Burns: Come and Be My Butterfly

Nicole was one of the Butterfly girls and loved that number. It was such amixture of the beautiful wings going back and forth and all the colors. Thenthere was the comedy in which David Burns, as Horace, got caught up in theirwings. David would mutter under his breath, “Get out of here you dirty moths”in a stage whisper bringing down the house. It was a fun, playful number. Theyrehearsed it so many times. Nicole remembers saying as they were going torehearse once more, “Not again!?!?!” Unbeknownst to her, Gower was standingright behind her. He was playful about it all.  Also on opening night, Nicole got pregnant! There weresevere snow storms in New York and Nicole lived out in Cederhurst at the time. She was a little bit afraid of being stuck out there so she came in and stayedat The Hilton. Because of this, Nicole only stayed with the show five monthsinitially. She hid it as long as she could. One night, she heard that someonehad gotten fired from the Bye, Bye BirdieCompany due to pregnancy. She was having such a great time in Dolly. It waslike going to a party every night. She just loved it and everybody in it thatshe didn’t want to tell anyone of her situation because she didn’t want toleave so soon. She kept it very quite; in fact, she started out wearing acorset with padding in the back to give a certain look especially in the Dancing number. As she started showingbelow the belt, she would stand a certain way to make up for the fact that shestopped adding the padding. When she was dancing, no one could tell but shewould get pretty breathless. One night, in Beforethe Parade Passes By, her dress split right on stage. She had to let themknow. Her dresser was Bob Fitch’s wife. She knew before Nicole told her. Sheeven told Nicole that she owed her a thumb having almost lost it trying to zip her up! Nicole was terrified to go to Gowerbut he told her to stay with the show for as long as she could do it. Shestayed into her fifth month. Her baby was sitting on a nerve and Nicole couldno longer move as much. She also fell on stage. 

Jerry Herman and Charles Nelson Reillymasterworksbroadway.com

The Company knew by then and she couldhear an audible gasp from the company.  It was at the end of the Dancing number in which Nicole andPaul Solen fell.Everyone was moving in one direction as the set was moving inanother. Nicole and Paul were going out on the ramp.   They were running around and waltzing. Theirtiming had to be just right; otherwise they would be stuck behind the set. Shefell, but that didn’t stop her. She just got right up and continued. Once when she arrived at the theater, comingall the way in from Long Island, there was a sign on the stage door, “Stayaway, Nicole! There are measles!!” Someone in the company had contractedmeasles and they didn’t want her to be exposed. When sheleft, she was out of the show for six months before returning.
When Nicole returned, Carol was still in the show but theywere getting ready to put Ginger Rogers in the show. Nicole thought Rogers wasOK in the show. In the Dancingnumber, from the moment the chorus came on, Nicole never stopped. She didalmost every step of that number. Gower told Nicole that he had to take some ofthat away from her. The same thing happened to Sondra Lee regarding her dancearound Dolly at the end of that number. It was modified to put the focus onDolly/Ginger. Nicole was distraught. It was one of her favorite moments in theshow. She thought she would never again find something that was so fluid and somuch fun. Ginger did it for one or two nights and could not do it, so Nicolegot everything back. She was just too out of breath for it. It was a nonstopping dance number in which Ginger would have to waltz out of one wing andwaltzing back in the other…seemingly to never stop. Nicole stayed on with Gingerfor about a year and a half. She left the show prior to Betty Grable coming in.Nicole was offered to come back as the dance captain whenEthel Merman came into the show. Nicole thought she would be a better dancecaptain if she was not in the show. They were not interested in just thatscenario. 
Nicole was involved in other things at that time and didn’t want to go “backwards”.
Nicole did see Pearl Bailey as Dolly. She found herinteresting. Bailey brought a whole new element to the show. It was veryentertaining. Carol was Carol when she did it and the same could be said ofPearl. Nicole also saw Phyllis Diller play Dolly. She could not compare it toeither Carol or Pearl. It was an interesting portrayal, however.
Nicole is such a Streisand fan, but feels the movie was sowrong. The movie became “too big” even though it was Gene Kelly. It just didn’thave the excitement or the theatricality of the stage production.
Gower Champion had such an eye for detail. He was a painteron stage. Everything was really, really specific. Sunday Clothes worked anyway, but it wasn’t as breathtaking as wheneveryone was angled in the way he staged everyone. 

Marge and Gower,1952 ...fan.tcm.com

Also, in Dancing, he always stressed that whenthe dancers glided, they didn’t bounce. When they ran, they flowed with it, whenthey stood in their plie, they were taught to cover the ground.Nicole attributes Dolly’s staying power to Gower’s stagingand original intention. It was all in the details. She feels that he is sounder rated. He had a flow as a director/choreographer. There is more of aninnate sense of timing when you have a director/choreographer as opposed to havingtwo people to cover that, depending upon the talent, of course. Gower had such asense of timing and style that the combination just worked. Nicole thinks Dolly should eventually return to Broadway,but not so soon. She hopes that whoever brings it in will pay as much attentionto detail as Gower did. She doesn’t know if today’s generation would have thepatience for a show like Dolly. 
What did Nicole like most about being in the show? “Thedancing.” She felt a freedom working with Gower. She felt that on all the showsshe did with him. Everyone had to dance together when they all danced together,but they were all individuals. He always stressed that his work was simple.What made it work is what each individual brought to the stage. Nicole feltvery free and also felt that she was in on the creativity of the shows she didwith Gower. Whatever she felt when she was dancing, he accepted. 

Gower Champion. -He died on Aug/25/1980, was born on Jun/22/1921tvrage.com

He was not acookie-cutter. Even when he was choreographing, she could almost feel what hewas going to do next. There was a certain circular thing that the female dancersdid in Dancing that had to go at acertain speed. Gower got behind Nicole and chased her to make the circle goeven faster. He was very keen on angles. The dancers were staged in a way tocreate certain tableaux’s on stage. Nicole watched Gower like a hawk. She feltshe danced “differently” after working with him.   The only low point for Nicole during her Dolly days wasPresident Kennedy’s assassination. The wildest thing that happened to Nicole on stage happenedin Detroit. It was during the transition of the set from the Hay and Feed storeon to the next scene. Paul Solen and Nicole were waltzing around the stageduring the transition. There was supposed to be a step inside the Hay and FeedStore for Nicole to step on to and do a well timed leap. One night, they forgotto set the step! She was determined to do what she was directed to do and shedid! Gower and Lowell teased her for a long time after this. Working with Freddy Wittop, the costume designer, this was the second time forNicole. She thought he was great and he was so nice. She remembers his minklined fur coat! She felt his costume designs were wonderful. Hello, Dolly issuch a wonderfully story telling Broadway show. It is so up. It is very stylized.It is a wonderful vehicle for a leading lady. Speaking of leading ladies, Gower was very hands on with Carol.In addition to Marge, Ed Kressley also worked with Carol a lot.Nicole adored working with Jerry Herman. She felt like alittle kid in a toy store. He was so sweet and so enthusiastic. She rememberswhen they first met. He had done a show off-Broadway called Parade. He had written a song, Your Hand in My Hand. She didn’t know itwas him. When they started working together on Dolly, and she realized that he had written this song that sheloved. She remembers loving that song from the moment she heard it and stillbelieves it is a wonderful song. She also feels that he is so cruelly underratedwith all that he has done. It took way too long for the Kennedy Center Honors. There have been legendary varying versions of the nightCarol fell off the stage into the orchestra pit. Nicole’s recollection is thatshe never stopped. She fell off of the stage right side. She was getting readyto cross over to stage left on the ramp and she missed but she continued! Sheclimbed back up and ended up on stage left. The audience response was amazement.

Gower during his MGM days

Nicole does not recall her closing night but she does recallher closing day due to her pregnancy. They gave her a “closing party” at arestaurant called El Soma. She was happy/sad going home. She was excited aboutgiving birth to her daughter but she hated to leave the Company. Her husbandpicked her up loaded with gifts. She recalls this huge teddy bear in the car. Itwas a wonderful send off. Gower sent a note saying that he was sorry that he couldn’tbe there.
When she finally left the show, she immediately went intorehearsals for an industrial. She needed a change. Hello, Dolly, for Nicole Barth, is extremely personal. Sheloved Broadway since she was a little girl and never desired to do anythingelse. She started out as a ballet dancer but that way of life seemed veryrestrictive to her. The moment she heard an overture she was hooked. Sheenjoyed the other shows of her career but LOVED Dolly! She loved going to work every night. It was such a hit show.It was like wearing a special suit. When people found out she was in Hello, Dolly, they reacted differently.   

Thank you Nicole Barth for the gifts you have given to the world and will continue to give!
With grateful XOXOXs ,



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