Charles Karel's Memories of Hello, Dolly!
Charles
Karel was in the original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! starring Carol
Channing and David Burns.
Charlie's first performance of the
original Hello Dolly! with Carol Channing was the show's very first
audience performance in the out-of-town tryouts in Detroit at the Fisher Theatre in November of
1963.
The originally scheduled
out-of-town opening night was the night John Kennedy was shot. Obviously, it was postponed.
They opened the next night to an audience
response, the likes of which Charlie had not heard to that point, nor since. At the conclusion of the two numbers, "The
Waiters' Gallop" and "Hello, Dolly", which were purposely staged
without interruption and melded together to be presented as one big production
extravaganza (the genius of Gower Champion), the audience, to a person,
literally exploded--standing, shouting, screaming, yelling, clapping, waving
the arms and stomping their feet.
And Charlie says he is not exaggerating when he says it lasted at least, a probably longer, ten
minutes. It was as though they were
communicating to the actors on stage, "Thank God. Finally, a real musical the way it's supposed to be done."
Gower Champion had already, by that time, established himself as the
genius of Broadway.
Working with him was
an experience that's difficult to communicate, to say the least, but Charlie said he would do his
best. "OMG!!! That about sums it up. When he choreographed "The Waiters'
Gallop" (incidentally, I was the only singer in the dance portion of that
number) he would stand down stage center on the apron looking at us moving his
hands and arms in all directions so as to sort of paint a picture in his mind's
eye of what he wanted to do with us.
This would last for maybe five minutes. Then he'd proceed to manifest
his genius and tell each person exactly what to do, and if you did exactly what
he said, it was magic."
Peter Howard, who later became their conductor, was at that time, the
dance arranger, rehearsal and pit pianist.
When he was playing his arrangements and they were dancing, if Gower
wanted him to stop, he would very softly make a clicking sound by sucking in on
his teeth like some guy trying to pick up a girl. 
How Peter ever heard him with all that was
going on is beyond Charlie, but he did, and he'd stop playing till Gower was ready
to start again--then he'd make that same very quite clicking sound, and Peter
would start playing again.
"The
Waiters' Gallop" was an extremely complicated number with a very rapid
tempo throughout.
In order for Gower to
stop and start at various parts in the music, he would assign those spots
whatever name suited them, and Peter would write that name down on his composition
sheet, which later became the published piano vocal score.
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(Photo: Henri Dauman) © Sony Music Entertainment
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One such spot, to which he returned quite
often, was when Charlie would be carrying a stack of plates underneath a staircase at
an extremely steep angle and at a pretty rapid pace. So, appropriately, Gower named that spot,
"Charlie's Entrance." Peter
wrote "Charlie's Entrance" at that spot on his composition sheet, and
it later became published as such in the first printing of the original Hello
Dolly Piano Vocal Score. Unfortunately,
it was discovered and removed for the next printing. Charlie has yet to find a copy of that first
printing. The saddest part is that he
didn't even know it was there until after they removed it. Peter showed him his copy, but of course,
wouldn't let me have it.Their Horace was, of course, David Burns.
"Davey," as he
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| (Photo: Henri Dauman) David Burns © Sony Music Entertainment Courtesy of Sony Music Archives |
was affectionately known to virtually everyone,
was a unique individual. He had the most
amazing sense of humor and totally fearless attitude toward practical jokes,
especially dirty ones. As the consummate
pro he was, he would be at the theater every night a full hour before
half-hour, get into full costume and make up and go out on to the stage and run
every single one of his lines throughout the entire show, with blocking.
Then he'd return to the dressing and continue
to playfully annoy everyone with his practical jokes, most of which are not fit
to print! But just as a mild
example--Charlie's dressing room, which he shared with Peter Howard (conductor), David
Hartman (Rudolf) and Jerry Dodge (Barnaby) was adjacent to Davey's on the
second floor landing above the stage at the St. James Theatre.
So Davey would frequently go into their
dressing room to talk or simply to annoy hem, which they all loved. One evening he walked in in full costume,
with the exception of his pants. He said
something or other, which wasn't really significant, and then walked away with
a 10-foot stream of toilet paper hanging out of his shorts, and of course,
didn't say a word. And, as I said, the
others are simply not fit to print.
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| Nicole Barth, David Burns, and Bonnie Mathis Photo: Henri Dauman) © Sony Music Entertainment Courtesy of Sony Music Archives |
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| Photo: Henri Dauman © Sony Music Entertainment Courtesy of Sony Music Archives |
In the summer of 1963, Charlie says he was about as green as a newcomer to New York
could be. He had just returned from a
one-year tour of MILK AND HONEY, and DOLLY was his first audition after getting
back to the big apple. In those days,
there were no EPA's. You just showed up,
all 500 of you, and waited all day long
to get the chance to sing and/or dance for Gower Champion. When his turn came up, he sang his usual
audition ballad, I'LL NEVER SAY NO from THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. When he finished, Gower asked him if he had an
up tune. His response was, "What's
an up tune?" He answered, with a smile,
"That's one with a slightly brighter tempo than what you just
sang." So, Charlie said, "I'm sorry,
sir, but I'm afraid I don't." Gower
said, "Why don't you go over and talk to Peter Howard (who at that time
was the rehearsal pianist and dance arranger), and see if you can work
something out."
Charlie tells me he had no idea that, at that time, Peter Howard was
probably the premiere ragtime piano player in New York, So, he asked him if he knew ALEXANDER'S
RAGTIME BAND. He said, "I think I
can manage that one. What
key?" Charlie said, "I don't
know. Just give me a starting note, and
we'll take it from there." Well, Peter wailed and Charlie wailed and it was just a ball.
Next, Charlie had to show Gower whether or not he could walk with very small
steps and an extremely rapid tempo. Charlie
said he would try, and the result was that he was the only singer in the cast
used as a dancer in THE WAITERS' GALLOP.
At the first day of rehearsal, Gower felt obligated to tell us all
that after having seen and heard over 3,000 people over the past year, he
wanted to let us know that we "...were the cream of the crop," and
that we "...should all be extremely proud of yourselves."
Of course, the first Dolly Charlie worked with was Carol Channing, who, in his mind is the only Dolly. It's as
though the role was written for her, not only by Michael Stewart, the book
writer, but Thorton Wilder, the original author of THE MATCHMAKER. What can one say about Carol, except that she
is the personification of Dolly Levi--or at least what Charlie thinks Dolly Levi
should be having done the show for over two years on Broadway with Carol and
with Ginger Rogers. Ginger, on the other
hand, was Ginger, which is nothing bad of course. Ginger Rogers was a delightful lady and
multi-talented. She was a superb
actress, and of course, her dancing is legendary. Charlie understudied Cornelius (Charles Nelson
Reilly) on Broadway and performed the role with both Carol and Ginger. Doing it with either of them was a delight
and a thrill, but in a different way. In
the DANCING number in the hat shop, dancing with Carol was a dream knowing that he had his arm around the waist of a Broadway legend. But the first time he put his arm around
Ginger's waist, the first thought that came to him was, "OMG--Fred's hand
was here." Then he was in a
different kind of legend heaven. He was
now dancing with a dancing legend of the movies of the 30s and 40s. Ginger once said, "I'm not really a good
dancer--I just wear long dresses."
Charlie was with the show from its inception in September 1963 (first
rehearsal) to when he left the company in the summer of 1966 to pursue other
goals.
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| Photo: Henri Dauman © Sony Music Entertainment Courtesy of Sony Music Archives |
To tell you the truth, Charlie doesn't remember what he felt like on his last
performance. He's sure if he were there
now, it would be quite a mixed reaction.
Where
was this (for each)?
As Charlie mentioned above, the reaction of the audience in that first
performance in Detroit was perhaps the most exciting memory of all. But the most comical memory was when Carol
actually fell off the ramp that went over the orchestra and landed in the laps
of the people in the front row.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. The only thing I can say about
it is that it didn't actually happen the way Carol usually tells it, and she's
told it all over the world to practically everyone alive.
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From left to right: Alice Playten, John Mineo (in sailor shirt), Lowell Purvis (with sideburns and goatee), blonde head belongs to Sondra Lee, Gower Champion, Shepard Coleman, David Hartman (tall man in sweater holding coffee cup). Paul Solen (profile at extreme right wearing sweater). (Photo: Henri Dauman) |
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| Photo: Henri Dauman © Sony Music Entertainment Courtesy of Sony Music Archives |
Charlie says he learned what it means to be a pro in Hello, Dolly! They don't
come any more pro than Carol, Ginger or Davey Burns. When you're exposed to the mastery of that
quality of performing eight times a week for over two years, if you don't learn
something about how to be a professional and the biz, you're an idiot.
I asked Charlie for his thoughts on Jerry Herman and he had the following to say:
There's so much to be said about Jerry Herman. He is such a "mensch." In Yiddish that means he's the real
deal. He treats everyone with kindness
and respect, and he's far and away one of the most talented American Musical
Theatre composers of the 20th and 21st Centuries.
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| Photo: Henri Dauman © Sony Music Entertainment Courtesy of Sony Music Archives |
I'll never forget one thing he said to me the
first time I went on for Cornelius, when he just happened to be at the
theatre.
He said, "Chuck, thank
you. That's the first time I've heard IT
ONLY TAKES A MOMENT really sung by a man.
Charlie Reilly was a brilliant comedy performer, but he'd be the first
to admit he was not really that great a singer.
Oh, he pulled it off dozens of times in a number of shows, but in a
comedic way, and brilliantly, too. BYE,
BYE BIRDIE and HOW TO SUCCEED... are two perfect examples.
Charlie's thoughts on Gower Champion
Well, I've already spoken quite a bit about Gower. To add to it, I'd have to say that, like
Jerry Herman, Gower was unique, both in talent and persona. He respected every performer equally, and he
was kind to everyone. There may be some
around who would disagree with that, but I'd bet that they were the kinds of
performers who didn't measure up to Gower's standards. He was one to let those performers know how
he felt about not giving 150%.
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Left to right: Carol Channing, Paul Solen, David Burns, Alice Playten, Igors Gavon, Charles Nelson Reilly, Eileen Brennan, David Hartman, Sondra Lee, Gordon Connell, Jerry Dodge (Photo: Henri Dauman) |
Describe
the first time you heard the score (if you can)
The first time we heard the music, of course, was during rehearsals,
but only with piano, which was exciting enough.
But the first time we heard the score with an orchestra was one of the
highlights of my entire life. It was the
first orchestra rehearsal in Detroit before we opened. The orchestra, the entire cast and the entire
creative team were all assembled in this one relatively small room at a
rehearsal studio. The minute that
orchestra began playing Phil Lang's orchestrations, it was orgasmic. To hear what he did with PUT ON
YOUR SUNDAY CLOTHES was akin to having the greatest orgasm of your life. Unfortunately, we never heard it quite like that
again, what with the vagaries of various theatres' sound conditions, etc. Of course, the rest of the score was equally
exciting. When they first started
playing, I noticed Gower over in one corner of the room literally pulling at
his hair as though he was going to pull it out from excitement. Jerry began weeping, and David Merrick simply
smiled, which, for him, was over the top.
What
one major change have you seen in the industry since Dolly?
The end of truly great musical theatre. Sure, there have been some wonderful shows
since then, but I fear we'll never again see or hear the likes of HELLO DOLLY,
WEST SIDE STORY, MY FAIR LADY, THE MUSIC MAN, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA, MAME, FIDDLER
ON THE ROOF, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE KING AND I, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, KISS ME
KATE, GUYS AND DOLLS and I'm sure some
others I can't think of at the moment.
But that kind of musical theatre is gone, and I fear never to return. The relationship between cost and quality is
definitely an inverse one. Even the
revivals haven't measured up to the originals--NOR HAVE THE PERFORMERS!!!
Thank you Charlie Karel! I Love you!!
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
Leslie Uggams
Special Instructions
Priority Seating with Purchase of Uptown Downtown.
Tomorrow's blog will be... Celebrating Shelly Goldstein!
This
Blog is dedicated to ALL ARTISTS: Past, present and future and the gifts they give to the world!
Thank you Charlie Karel! I Love you!!
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
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| with George Marcy and Carol Lawrence |
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| with Leslie Uggams |
Also join me tonight for another Dolly!
Leslie Uggams
Uptown Downtown
Musical Performance
The Tony and Emmy award-winning actress/singer performs selections from Uptown/Downtown, the new CD based on her award-winning musical autobiography. She will be joined in performance by Don Rebic, Steve Bargonetti and Ray Kilday.
The Tony and Emmy award-winning actress/singer performs selections from Uptown/Downtown, the new CD based on her award-winning musical autobiography. She will be joined in performance by Don Rebic, Steve Bargonetti and Ray Kilday.
TONIGHT!
Thursday March 08, 2012 7:00 PM
86th and Lexington Ave150 East 86th Street, New York, NY 10028, 212-369-2180
Thursday March 08, 2012 7:00 PM
86th and Lexington Ave150 East 86th Street, New York, NY 10028, 212-369-2180
Special Instructions
Priority Seating with Purchase of Uptown Downtown.
Please do what YOU can to be more aware that words and actions DO HURT...but they can also heal and help!
Tomorrow's blog will be... Celebrating Shelly Goldstein!
Thank you, to all the mentioned in this blog!
Here's to an INCREDIBLE tomorrow for ALL...with NO challenges! 
Portions of The Persian Room Presents benefits ChldHelp.
Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING and HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING and HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED DAY
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com
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