Richard Skipper did a full production of it in Asbury Park as Carol Channing doing Dolly.
In my view, that's no longer doing an honest production of Hello, Dolly. That's simply a lampoon drag act.
I'd feel a little better if Skipper were finding his own honest way into the role, instead of playing a copy of a copy of a copy of Dior.
Still, I tend to think unless it's done VERY carefully, it all becomes camp, and the rest of the musical becomes useless, because all we'd be watching the whole time is the stunt. If, say, we get to that iconic speech before "Parade" about rejoining the human race - really the emotional pivot for Dolly - if we're consciously watching a man in drag at that point, instead of really believing in the moment, it hasn't worked. A skilled actor and director would have made you forget about the gender bending by that point. But I do think that would be difficult to pull off well.
Now - some shows are written with that camp sensibility built in - I don't worry, for instance, about forgetting that Edna Turnblad or Miss Trunchbull or Mary Sunshine are played by men - that's part of the fun. But Dolly, to me, has to have those moments of honesty - or else it's just another old-fashioned surface-y hallmark card musical. (And I'm sure some people think it is. To me it doesn't have to be.) |
