The 2014 Hello Dolly 50th Anniversary Celebration

Mark your calendars" writes Richard Skipper.  The Broadway musical, Hello, Dolly!, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

"I'm thrilled to be bringing together Nicole Barth, Ron Young  (both dancers in the original Company and Carleton Carpenter and Johnny Beecher (Sheridan (Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker: Mary Martin International Company) and others all together on one stage!" 

Members of the original cast of Dolly will be together for the first time in 50 years on Saturday, January 18.

You can contact: Richard Skipper Celebrates:  845-365-0720, or Richard@RichardSkipper.com

Richard Skipper Celebrates…The Fiftieth Anniversary of Hello, Dolly!

Jan 18, 1:30pm LOCAL 802 MUSICIAN'S HALL - NY SHEET MUSIC SOCIETY, 322 West 48th Street, NYC

RICHARD SKIPPER CELEBRATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HELLO, DOLLY!

Richard Skipper will be kicking off a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hello, Dolly with members of the original Broadway cast! Flea market: 12:30 - 2:00- Great place to find music sheets, tapes, CD's etc. Members may bring their CD's to sell at the CD table.

For information on this, write to ceo@mirandamusic.com Program: 2:00 - 3:00P with cast members from the original Broadway cast! (Scheduled: Nicole Barth (Original cast), Paul Berne (dancer, Original Company), Carleton Carpenter and Johnny Beecher (Sheridan (Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker: Mary Martin International Company), Wayne Clark (first National Company with Carol Channing), John Anthony Gilvey: Author, Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical (click here), David Hartman (Rudolph and Stage Manager: Original Company), Charles Karel (Original cast), Jan LaPrad (Original Company dancer), Joan “Buttons” Leonard (original company), Lee Roy Reams (Cornelius Hackl 1977 tour and Broadway Revival, director 1996 Broadway tour and Revival), Ron Young (dancer original cast). Non-member guest fee $10. Membership only $50 per year/single (9 great Programs and a monthly Newsletter). BECOME A MEMBER!

Carol Channing will also be appearing at Town Hall on Monday, January 20, 2014 with host Justin Bond:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/185257-Fans-May-Submit-Questions-for-Carol-Channing-at-Town-Hall?tsrc=nx

There will be two special performance’s of Peggy Herman’s hit show, Herman Sings Herman.

Peggy Herman will be joined by Jerry Lanning (Patrick, Mame 1966) and Tony Sheldon on Saturday night, January 18 Herman Sings Herman. Lee Roy Reams (whom I had the pleasure to meet and sit with at Melissa Manchester's act at BB King's last Spring) is Peggy’s guest on the evening of the 19th show at 7pm. (Both Shows at The Laurie Beechman Theater.)

http://www.peggyherman.com

Hello, Dolly! was first produced on Broadway by David Merrick in 1964, winning a record 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, a record held for 35 years. The show album, Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. The show has become one of the most enduring musical theater hits, enjoying three Broadway revivals and international success. It was also made into a 1969 film that was nominated for seven Academy Awards.

Please contact Richard Skipper Celebrates…845-365-0720 Richard@RichardSkipper.com for press inquiries.

Carol Channing Comes Back to Broadway

Golden anniversaries seem to be springing up all over the place these days! The latest? Nothing less than the 50th Anniversary of Hello, Dolly. Caol Channing will perform and Justin Vivian Bond will host, reprising their Fire Island roles of this past summer.

TheaterMania informs us:

Beloved actress and comedienne Carol Channing will return to the stage in New York City for a one-night event at Town Hall on January 20. Channing will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening of Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart's Hello, Dolly!, in which she starred.

Tony Award-nominated performance artist Justin Vivian Bond will host the event, which will be produced by Daniel Nardicio. The evening will include video footage from Channing's career as well as filmed tributes from her celebrity admirers.

Channing last appeared on Broadway in the 1995 revival of Hello, Dolly!. Her many stage credits also include Lorelei, Wonderful Town, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Hurricane Aftermath NYC

Justin Vivian Bond Tweets: "I'm getting ready to go out and fake help clean up the hurricane. I'd like to document this. Could I have some volunteer photogs and props?" Hear that, Romney?


On an express bus from the upper east side in Manhattan to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, traveling down Broadway, I was shocked by the very long stretch of lack of electricity and the shuttered stores in an area usually so vibrant with shoppers. It is like a ghost town. I used to live in that neighborhood, for 18 years, and would be without power and, possibly, running water if I were still there. Three days after Hurricane Sandy hit NYC, it's become obvious to me that the worst part of the hurricane is its wake; the aftermath, the cleaning up, the going on. Subway service is still not fully back; it might be weeks for that to happen. And did I mention the gas shortage? This is much worse than what we went through after last year's Hurricane Irene.

In Bay Ridge, I am counting my blessings for running water and power for me and throughout most of our community. For those across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, areas have been hit much harder. My colleague, Cathy, tells me horror stories of the flooding, even deaths, in Staten Island.

"Please don't forget about Staten Island. My family remains without power as temperatures drop," my doctor, Frank Spinelli, pleads to FEMA on Twitter. The situation is bad but New Yorkers are tough.

We will survive!

Hit it, Glo!:

Uptown with Justin Bond

I went out tonight to West 95th Street, afraid I'd develop nosebleed from venturing so far uptown. The motivation behind my mission: to see An Evening with Justin Vivian Bond starring Justin Vivian Bond, perhaps best known as Kiki of Kiki & Herb fame, at Symphony Space. They truly have done an amazing job of creating a whole new, chic environment for the arts there, let me say. I recall going to that location when it was the grungy Thalia movie house. It was the only cinematheque in Manhattan that had rows of seats facing the screen in an ascending fashion, like watching films inside a rocket ready for blast-off. And I blasted off to many a great film there. On my last visit, to see a film noir double-feature, I recall there were about six people in the audience. A broad-shouldered giant of a man (must have been 7-feet-tall, seriously) came in and, after scoping out the ample array of empty seats, perversely decided to sit right in front of 5'5" me. Even seated, he eclipsed my view of the screen, forcing me to move to another filthy chair.

Earlier this week, my public relations friend, Bernadette Quigley, generously comped me into the Bond Show and, tonight, I decided to sit in the VIP section at the back where I could make a quick exit to a cab at end. This time, the theater seats were in the normal descending fashion toward the stage. And clean.

Who introduced the act but actor B.D. (Bette Davis?) Wong! Wong and I share a brief connection as, some years ago, he was dashing from his cab to Crunch gym on Lafayette. (Can't he afford Equinox?) His wallet dropped from a trouser pocket and hit the cement as I passed by and he obliviously marched toward his upcoming workout.

"Hey! B.D.!" I cried out, picking up his wallet. I was tempted to open it to see how much cash he kept on hand but, before that was possible, he swung around and plucked the wallet from my hand with a curt "thank you." (No tip offered.)

Justin emerged, giving B.D. an onstage smooch. He was looking quite smart in a becoming coif, frock and red stilettos, chomping at the bit to read from his new memoir, Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels. (Ironically, I am currently copy editing the memoir of another gay public figure and New York icon but am currently not at liberty to say much about it. Just wait!)

Bond -- Justin Bond -- began with a hilarious account of his ADD (as my mind drifted off) and continued with his offbeat view of Americana, concentrating on childhood memories (as the book's title indicates), totally selling me on his memoirs and instilling in me a craving for more.

In a positively furious outburst of artistic creativity, the performance artist/cult star also discussed his upcoming stage-musical collaboration with Sandra Bernhard, which has me salivating at the very thought.

The always sexy comic/writer Mike Albo then interviewed Justin, though that portion of the night briefly devolved into a bit of psychobabble. Finally, Bond sang to guitar accompaniment, plugging a new album yet, for a pleasing end to a generally entertaining evening of monolog, dialog, discussion and music.

Tango is published by The Feminist Press at CUNY (!) while Bond's recent album, Dendrophile, is available on cd and download from Whimsy Music.