Looking back on my early theater career, I realize now that Carol Channing was the first in a line of “great ladies” I would get to meet.
The sad news of her death on Jan. 15 prompted a 60-year trip back in time for me, to 1959, when I was privileged to work with Channing for two brief weeks.
When I graduated in 1957 as a theater major from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., my career focus was theater management. For me, the entry into this field was as a press agent. One early job was as press agent for the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (CLO).
Founded in 1946, the CLO’s home was Pitt Stadium, where it offered outdoor summer musical theater classics. In 1958, CLO had to leave its long-time stadium home. So in the summer of 1959, Civic Light Opera moved to a temporary home under the Melody Tent on the site of what was to become the Civic Arena. Designed to house the CLO and continue its tradition of outdoor performances, the Civic Arena was to be the first retractable roof major-sports and entertainment venue in the world. The first roof opening was during a July 4 Carol Burnett show in 1962 in which she exclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen … I present the sky!”
I was hired by the CLO to promote that first season under the big top. The 1959 season presented seven musicals; “Calamity Jane,” “Destry Rides Again,” “Take Me Along,” “The Chocolate Soldier,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Damn Yankees” and … “Show Girl,” starring Carol Channing.
By now, everyone knows Channing began as a Broadway musical actress, starring in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in 1949 and, of course, “Hello, Dolly!” in 1964 for which she earned a Tony Award for best actress in a musical. She revived both roles several times throughout her career, most recently playing Dolly in 1995.
She was nominated for her first Tony Award in 1956 for “The Vamp,” followed by a nomination in 1961 for “Show Girl.” She received her fourth Tony Award nomination for the musical “Lorelei” in 1974. She was rehearsing and preparing “Show Girl” for Broadway when she came to the CLO in 1959.
It was nearly impossible for me, as a young press agent, to not be overwhelmed by the force of Channing’s presence. She was the first really big Broadway star whom I was to promote in Pittsburgh and I didn’t want to flunk the test. But I was immediately “taken in” by Channing and her manager/publicist/husband Charles Lowe. Their dual mission was to get as much publicity for their forthcoming revival of “Show Girl” on Broadway.
I found out very quickly that lining up newspaper and television interviews for Channing was a piece of cake. Driving her to the various interviews allowed us to talk. Actually, I mostly listened as Channing talked about her young son, Channing Lowe, who was with her in Pittsburgh. I remember how she would not let young Channing wear his glasses when photographs were being taken of them both. She wanted him to “look good.”
There was one moment when I thought she would have my head. I had asked a photographer friend of mine, Jack Weinhold, to take a series of candid shots of Carol Channing during one of the performances in the large Melody Tent arena theater. I arranged for Weinhold to sit on one of the aisles about six rows from the stage where he would have a good view of her.
At intermission, I was summoned to Channing’s dressing room where she chewed me out, not for taking photographs, but for the classic sound of a Nikon film camera clacking away during the performance. Duly chastised, I had to tell Weinhold to cease and desist. But he did get some great shots in the first act!
Happily, this did not end our brief working relationship. The following night, after the performance, my wife Sally and I took Channing up to the top of Mount Washington overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. We ascended the small mountain via the Duquesne Incline, a gussied up, funky descendent of what was once one of four coal inclines that carried coal up from river barges below to what was originally called Coal Hill. We took her to our favorite restaurant, the Tin Angel, where I had called ahead to get a table by the window overlooking the city below. Needless to say, we had fabulous service and an attentive group of diners around us!
One of the many things I learned from Carol Channing that evening was that the original “Show Girl” opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York in 1929. The music was by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn. The leading lady in that first production was Ruby Keeler, and other actors included Jimmy Durante and Eddie Foy Jr. Duke Ellington and his orchestra provided the music.
The version of “Show Girl” that Channing was preparing for Broadway had been adapted into a musical revue with songs and sketches by Charles Gaynor. Two years after her CLO performance, “Show Girl” opened on Broadway. Channing received not only critical love letters but also a Tony nomination for best actress. It was, by all accounts, a tour de force Channing performance, which can be heard on the original cast album.
Looking back, working for and with Carol Channing was the absolutely best — and fortunately, my first — time at bat with some of American theater’s “great ladies.” I have a lot more stories to tell, now that I think about it!
John Bos lives in Shelburne Falls. His early career included work in several regional professional theaters as publicist, manager and producer. He invites questions and comments at john01370@gmail.com.