Award-winning entertainer Richard Skipper celebrates the 60th Anniversary of Hello, Dolly! on Sunday, February 11 at 7 PM—plus an encore performance on Friday, March 29— at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. Special Guest Star is Broadway veteran Lee Roy Reams. Music director is Dan Pardo on piano, with Matt Scharfglass on bass and David Silliman on percussion. James Beaman directs.
This cabaret-style, 60th anniversary salute to the iconic musical Hello, Dolly! is an interactive, feel-good, performance. It was at the behest of his late, great pal and bosom-buddy, actress Carol Channing—the first and most-beloved Dolly—that Skipper put together this act. Skipper will sing and celebrate the songs, the history, the in-the-know tidbits of this iconic musical along with a tribute to the many, legendary actresses who have played Dolly.
On January 16th, 1964, Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre starring Carol Channing; it was a smash hit, winning ten Tony Awards®. Sixty years later, this show–with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, a book by Michael Stewart, direction by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick—is still glowin’, still crowin’, still goin’ strong. During the course of the show’s run, and revivals, several legendary actresses have played Dolly. Just to name a few: Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Ginger Rodgers, Bernadette Peters, Donna Murphy, Bette Midler; Pearl Bailey (with an all-black cast) and Barbra Streisand in the film version. Dolly has even been performed by men: first, celebrity impersonator Danny La Rue in England, then veteran Broadway actor Lee Roy Reams made history as the first American male to star as Dolly in an Equity production.
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Laurie Beechman Theater is located in the West Bank Cafe, 407 West 42nd Street, New York City
