Description
This is a rare souvenir program from the Broadway production of the JERRY HERMAN and MICHAEL STEWART musical comedy hit "HELLO, DOLLY!" which played the St. James Theatre in New York City. (The production opened January 16th, 1964 and ran for 2844 performances.) ..... During the exceptionally long run of the musical, nine different actresses played the role of "Mrs. Dolly Levi Gallagher", created by the legendary CAROL CHANNING. Her first replacement was GINGER ROGERS (1965) followed by MARTHA RAYE (1967), BETTY GRABLE (1967), BIBI OSTERWALD (1967), PEARL BAILEY (1967), THELMA CARPENTER (1969), PHYLLIS DILLER (1969) and finally ETHEL MERMAN (March 28th, 1970) who had been Jerry Herman's original choice to star in the groundbreaking musical ..... This rare program is from the ETHEL MERMAN run when the cast included JACK GOODE, JUNE HELMERS, DANNY LOCKIN, GEORGIA ENGEL, PATRICIA COPE, DAVID GARY, JAMES BEARD, MARCIA LEWIS and RUSSELL NYPE ..... Side Note: The musical was awarded 10 Tony Awards including "Best Musical" ..... CREDITS: Music and Lyrics by JERRY HERMAN ("Milk and Honey", "Hello, Dolly!", "Mame", "Mack and Mabel", "La Cage Aux Folles" and "Dear World"); Book by MICHAEL STEWART based on the "Matchmaker" by THORNTON WILDER; Sets designed by OLIVER SMITH; Costumes designed by FREDDY WITTOP; Directed and Choreographed by GOWER CHAMPION; Produced by DAVID MERRICK ..... DETAILS: The oversized 20 page program measures 9" X 12" inches and includes full production credits, photos and bios of each of the actors and members of the creative team, a page of excerpts from a number of New York reviews and several pages of production photos ..... PLEASE NOTE: The scanned pages have been cropped due to the limitations of my scanner. The margins are slightly wider than shown ..... CONDITION: With the exception of light edge wear, this rare program is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.
