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Richard Skipper Brings Affectionate Carol Channing Tribute to Wings |
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by Bruce-Michael Gelbert | >> see bio |
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Richard Skipper as Carol Channing, with Kristopher Monroe & Rocco L. Arrigo (kneeling) & Michael Hopewell (standing).
Photo by Joseph R. Saporito |
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Thanks to Richard Skipper's endearing and affectionate tribute, Carol Channing, bejeweled, glittering and warmly glowing, is in residence at Wings Theatre, on Christopher Street. After a weekend of previews, "Carol Channing in Concert Starring Richard Skipper!" officially opens on January 25 and plays, thereafter, on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 pm and Sunday matinees at 3:30 pm, through February 16. Expect a lively show, with much loving interaction with an adoring audience, and backup by perky chorus boys Rocco L. Arrigo, Michael Hopewell and Kristopher Monroe. Miles Phillips is the canny stage director and pianist Paul L. Johnson, the supportive music director. Chris Clement is on percussion and Brian Grochowski is on bass. Tracy Wilson was responsible for choreography and Wheeler Kincaid, for the set-a photographic salute to Channing-and for the lighting.
Skipper's "Channing in Concert" draws largely, as expected, on Channing's two major, familiar hits, Jule Styne and Leo Robin's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1949), after Anita Loos' book, and Jerry Herman's "Hello, Dolly!" (1964), after Thornton Wilder's play "The Matchmaker," but there are some no less welcome surprises as well. Ethel Merman inherited the part of Dolly Gallager Levi at the end of the original Broadway run of "Dolly" and Richard's Carol embraces the audience and welcomes us with a Merman melody, "Gee, But It's Good to Be Here," from Harold Karr and Matt Dubey's "Happy Hunting," with a big climactic high note. Before focusing on "Gentlemen," we meet Skipper's Lorelei Lee, fondly surveying the "sweet souvenirs of a life," in Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's "Looking Back," from the revival-remake-sequel "Lorelei" (1973). Jeff Matson supplied some new lyrics here. Skipper's irresistible femme fatale - literally-- donning the merriest of "Widow's Weeds," in specialty number by Ervin Drake, might be Lorelei's shady cousin.
For Hollywood's "Gentlemen," Marilyn Monroe took over the role Channing created and Styne and Bob Merrill later adapted Monroe vehicle "Some Like It Hot" for Broadway as "Sugar." Sampling the latter, Skipper took the opportunity to delve into the alluring "(kind of) Beauty That Drives a Man Mad." For television's "Laugh-In," Channing and Goldie Hawn traded observations about myths and stereotypes concerning "Blondes," and Richard's Carol recreates this '60s moment, with the boys as a trio of Goldies.
With nary a tear, Skipper's Lorelei bids fond farewell to a suitor in Styne and Robin's "Bye Bye Baby"; with pizzazz, shows that this "Little Girl from Little Rock" has learned that "the one you call your daddy ain't your pa;" and tosses glitzy rings to the fans during an ingratiating "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," the ultimate gold digger's credo.
Skipper segues from Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen's title tune from George Roy Hill's film "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (1967) into "Jazz Baby," Channing's character Muzzy's song, to provide a peppy opening for the evening's second act.
Our diva's Dolly, with flair, illuminates her occupation as consummate meddler in "I Put My Hand In;" provides balance by quietly offering Horace Vandergelder's viewpoint in "It Takes a Woman;" and addresses late mate Ephraim Levi in a touching spoken monologue before expressing determination, with verve, to rejoin the human race "Before the Parade Passes By."
Arrigo, Hopewell and Monroe take center stage dulcetly to limn the charms of "Lorelei" and point out that "It Only Takes a Moment" for Dolly's protégés to fall in lifelong love. For a grand finale, they hail our heroine with the title greeting from "Hello, Dolly!"
Tickets for "Carol Channing in Concert Starring Richard Skipper!" at $20, or $16 for students and seniors, are available by calling 212/627-2961 or visiting www.wingstheatre.com.
Next on tap at Wings will be Victor Bumbalo's "Questa," directed by Artistic Director Jeffrey Corrick, from February 23 to March 22, and Barry Lowe and Sean Peter's "Dutch Courage," with a World War Two setting, directed by Will Conyers, from May 23 to June 21.
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