Wednesday, December 5, 2012

From Stage to Screen …. Hello Dolly!

 

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Hello, Dolly! (1964)

 

Music & lyrics by Jerry Herman; book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker, adapted from his previous play The Merchant of Yonkers, founded on Johann Nestroy's Viennese play Einen Jux Will Er Sich Machen, which stemmed from John Oxenford's English play A Day Well Spent.

Songs:

    • "It Takes a Woman",
    • "Put on Your Sunday Clothes",
    • "Ribbons Down My Back",
    • "Before the Parade Passes By"  - music and lyric with Charles Strouse and Lee Adams,
    • "Elegance",
    • "Dancing",
    • "Motherhood",
    • "Hello, Dolly!",
    • "It Only Takes a Moment",
    • "So Long, Dearie."

New York : Jan. 16, 1964

St. James Theatre ; 2,844 performances .

Presented by David Merrick; directed & choreographed by Gower Champion

Cast: Carol Channing (Dolly Gallagher Levi), David Burns (Horace Vandergelder), Eileen Brennan (lrene Molloy), Sondra Lee (Minnie Fag), Charles Nelson Reilly (Cornelius Hackl), Jerry Dodge (Barnaby Tucker)

London : Dec.2, 1965

Dury Lane Theatre; 794 performances.

Directed & choreographed by Gower Champion

Cast: Mary Martin (Dolly Gallagher Levi), Loring Smith (Horace Vandergelder), Marilynn Lovell (Irene Molloy), Coco Ramirez (Minnie Fay), Garrett Lewis (Cornelius Hackl), Johnny Beecher (Barnaby Tucker).

Though it had a shaky pre-Broadway tryout, requiring the help of new writers, the changing of the first-act finale, and the addition of four songs, Hello,Dolly went on to set the record for the longest-running Broadway musical - was overtaken by Fiddler on the Roof). Originally intended for but rejected by Ethel Merman, the musical was initially announced as Dolly: A Damned Exasperating Woman, a title that was changed to Call on Dolly, and eventually Hello, Dolly!

Opening night reviews were full of praise for Carol Channing and particularly director Gower Champion. In the story, Dolly Gallagher Levi, a NY matchmaker of the 1890s, succeeds not only in helping three young couples but also manages to snare a rich Yonkers merchant, Horace Vandergelder, for herself.

Dolly's big moment-as well as the musical's occurs in the second scene of Act II when the lady makes a grand reappearance at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant.

During New York run, Miss Channing was succeeded by Ginger Rogers (Aug-65), Martha Raye (Feb-67), Betty Grable (Jun-67), Bibi Osterwald (Nov-67), Pearl Bailey (heading an all-Negro cast beginning Nov-67, and frequently spelled by Thelma Carpenter), Phyllis Diller (Dec-69), and Ethel Merman (Mar-70). David Brooks was succeeded by Max Showalter (Mar-67), Cab Calloway (Nov-67), Richard Deacon (Dec-69), and Jack Goode (Mar-70). Russell Nype played Cornelius during Miss Merman's tenure.

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During touring companies in the USA, Dolly was played by Mary Martin and Loring Smith, opened in April 1965 and performed in 11 US cities, plus Tokyo, South Vietnam, Korea, and Okinawa, before beginning a run in London. Other Dolly’s included Dora Bryan, Eve Arden,  Betty Grable and Dorothy Lamour.

Original Broadway Soundtrack Carol-Channing-Hello,-Dolly!-(1964-Original-Broadway-Cast)

Track Listing

1. Prologue

2. I Put My Hand In

3. It Takes a Woman

4. Put on Your Sunday Clothes

5. Ribbons Down My Back

6. Motherhood

7. Dancing

8. Before the Parade Passes By

9. Elegance

10. Hello, Dolly!

11. It Only Takes a Moment

12. So Long Dearie

13. Finale

1969 Movie

 

 hello-dolly-movie-poster-1970

20th Century-Fox 1969, Color, 129 minutes
Producer: Ernest Lehman
Associate Producer: Roger Edens
Director: Gene Kelly
Screenplay: Ernest Lehman
Music Director: Lennie Hayton and Lionel Newman
Musical Score: Jerry Herman, Lionel Newman and Lennie Hayton
Song Score: Jerry Herman
Choreography: Michael Kidd
Set Decoration: Raphael Bretton, George Hopkins, Walter M. Scott
Costume Design: Irene Sharaff


Awards:
Academy Awards for Best Score - Musical (Lennie Hayton and Lionel Newman), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Sound; Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Cinematography (Harry Stadling), Best Film Editing and Best Costume Design (Irene Sharaff)


Cast:
Barbra Streisand (Dolly Levi),
Walter Matthau (Horace Vandergelder),
Michael Crawford (Cornelius Hackl),
Marianne McAndrew (Irene Molloy),
Louis Armstrong (Orchestra Leader)

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HELLO DOLLY

DVD

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