In his highly successful performances playing Carol Channing, the legendary star of Hello, Dolly! and a number of other musical roles on the stage, screen and television, Richard Skipper has both captured the public persona of the actress and added an appealing overlay of engaging whimsy. He’s got Channing’s recognizable style with song and story honed to a fine edge. This, his newest “Carol Channing” showpiece, is being played in the cozy St. Luke’s Theater nestled in New York’s theater district and, with Skipper’s ongoing interplay with a very willing audience, it’s as much a house party as it is a show.

Skipper, garbed in a floor-length glittery red gown and bouffant platinum blonde wig, never comes out of the Channing character, and it only takes a moment before “her” recounting of the autobiographical anecdotes told during the show seem to be coming from Channing herself.  There’s plenty of banter – Skipper is a master of the ad lib – interwoven with nearly a score of songs linked to Channing, such as “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” “Elegance” and, of course, “Hello, Dolly!” revisit a role Channing played more than 5,000 times.  And never, incidentally, missed a single performance.  For most of the audience it was a well-balanced night of treasured music, welcome nostalgia and ongoing mirth.

In another life, Skipper may have been a chameleon. His ability to shift from sheer fun to serious stuff in little more than a heartbeat or two is notable.  While his good-natured use of people in the room as foils, and several of the Channing character’s ostensibly innocent asides evoke instant laughter from the audience, his dramatic recreation of Dolly Levi’s plea to her dead husband, “Ephram, let me go,” leading into “Before the Parade Passes By,” was extremely moving.

Aided by Musical Director John Fischer on piano, bassist Jeff Carney and Steve Bartosik on drums, Richard Skipper as Carol Channing In Concert is an unabashed delight.  Mark Robert Gordon directed.

The show has an open-ended run at St. Luke’s Theater, with matinee and evening performances every Wednesday through January 26. Starting January 31, the show switches to Monday nights at 8 pm and Wednesdays at 2 pm.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
January 12, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org