Carol Channing Gets Serious About Musical Comedy

There aren't many 82 year old women who can shimmy across a stage barely covered in a metallic silver form fitting mini-skirted flapper dress designed for maximum gam exposure without being subjected to a bit of ridicule. Not even Carol Channing, as exemplified by the fellow walking behind me as I exited the Village Theatre, who apparently couldn't wait to get on his cell phone and laugh about her outfit to a friend. But one of the unique things about Carol Channing (and there are quite a few of them) is that such apparel, which could look like a cry for attention even on someone 60 years her junior, blends in rather naturally with the glittery persona of its wearer. A simple full-length black dress on Ms. Channing runs the risk of being completely overshadowed by her eccentric voice, manner and wit, making her appear, well... naked.

As the initial guest of Glen Roven's Singular Sensations, a series of 8-performance-a-week interviews featuring a different musical theatre artist each week, one of the most recognizable performers in Broadway history reveals a star-struck humility when speaking of such associates as Marc Blitzstein, Gower Champion and Ethel Merman. She continually apologizes to the audience for what might seem like name dropping, explaining that these are the people she happened to know, and gives advice on what to do if ever presented to the Queen of England with the simple sincerity of a neighbor recommending a surefire way to remove that stubborn grape juice stain from your little boy's white shirt. And you know it's good advice because she got it from Yul Brynner. (The advice about being presented to the Queen, that is. She never mentioned how Yul Brynner handled stubborn stains.)

By far the most fascinating aspect of the hundred minute interview was her explanation of the serious work that goes into creating what many pass off as mindless fluff. A skilled mimic, Channing explains that satire is something that comes from the audience, and in order to be effective a performer must approach satirical targets with honesty and affection. This technique was perfected in her breakout performance in the musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. As Anita Loos described her in the show's source novel, Lorelei Lee was 5 foot 2, eyes of blue and cute as a button. At nearly 6 and a half feet tall in heels, all arms and legs topped with big brown eyes, Carol Channing reached back into her Stanislavski training to believe she was indeed this delicate little Kewpie doll, and the more honestly she approached the role, the more the audience saw the satire. When Marilyn Monroe took over the part for the film version, her breathy rendition of "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" was filled with sexy vamps and poses for appreciative men, but no laughs. Channing's definitive approach was a patriotic march meant to teach young ladies an important life skill; a lesson in gold-digging taught with the same wholesome sincerity a Girl Scout den mother would use to teach sewing, and it made her the first actor ever put on the cover of Time Magazine.

Channing's second signature performance was in another lighthearted musical comedy, but as she explains, Hello, Dolly! was an unfocused mess until the creators found the story's dramatic spine; a widow who wears a life-of-the-party mask until she can allow herself to let go of her ties to her late husband and re-enter the human race. Even the production number surrounding the show's title song, perhaps the most famous seven minutes in Broadway history, was not effective until Channing and director Gower Champion explored the scene's subtext and built the choreography around the reasons why Dolly and the gang at Harmonia Gardens felt it was so nice to have her back where she belonged.

And of course, between the lessons in the craft of musical comedy, she sang. And she sang in a presentational manner seen less and less in today's musicals, where body mics make facing the audience less of a necessity and fourth wall realism often cuts us off from a personal connection to the performer. She preceded Hello, Dolly!'s "Before the Parade Passes By" with the show's dramatic monologue leading up to the song, giving an example of the heighten realism needed to provide a seamless transition between spoken word and sung lyric. As Channing and Roven discussed, this heightened realism provides a dramatic connection between musical theatre and Shakespeare.

Speaking of Glen Roven, his comfortable presence and background as a composer, conductor, and accompanist helped provide charming and knowledgeable guidance to the presentation, mixing questions about her work with the usual assortment of amusing celebrity anecdotes. But missing from the interview were the less familiar aspects of Ms. Channing's career. Having starred in national tours of Pygmalion and The Millionairess it would have been interesting to hear her take on performing the work of George Bernard Shaw. A passing mention of her flop musical The Vamp left me hungry for more information on this short-lived obscurity. Not a word was said about her year-long tour opposite Mary Martin in the James Kirkwood play Legends, which never made it to Broadway. And couldn't a minute or two have been devoted to her inclusion in President Nixon's White House Enemies List? Or even a discussion by one of musical theatres greatest living artists on the current state of the Broadway Musical?

Still, the premiere Singular Sensations provided a fine mix of heady discussion and show-biz pizazz. Upcoming guests include Donna McKechnie (Nov. 10-16), Florence Henderson (Nov. 17-23), Kitty Carlisle Hart (Nov. 24-30), Lainie Kazan (Dec. 1-7), Elaine Paige (Dec. 8-14), James Naughton (Dec. 15-21), Shirley Jones (Dec. 29-Jan. 4), Betty Buckley (Jan. 5-11), Mickey Rooney (Jan. 12-18), Jane Powell (Jan 19-25), Cy Coleman (Jan 26-Feb.1) and Sally Ann Howes (Feb. 2-8).

For Michael Dale's "mad adventures of a straight boy living in a gay world" visit dry2olives.com