Charles Nelson Reilly in Hello, Dolly

[Anshel2]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 3:37pm

Did any of the vets on the board see him in the original production? I find the cast album to be unlistenable due to his performance. Did a major comedic stage performance make up for his complete inability to sing?

Updated On: 7/30/13 at 03:37 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 4:21pm

I miss character singers ... and personalities like this!


Charles Nelson Reilly at the 1974 Tonys - A Medley (sort of) from his shows

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 4:34pm

Yes, a Major comedic stage performance made up for limited vocal ability. I could listen to his talent all day long.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 4:35pm

"I could listen to his talent all day long."

Exactly!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 5:16pm

I remember seeing him in an interview. He said at the time he was living on Sullivan Street in the Village which was still a big Italian neighborhood. He would come home and there would be a pan of lasagna in front of his door from one of the women in the building. He would repay them by getting them tickets to Hello Dolly.

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 5:25pm

I like good vocals but I would choose character over operatic/legit anyday. HELLO DOLLY! Cornelius & Irene casting over the yrs went to leading man/leading woman only out of insecurity of Carol Channing who wanted to possess all the interesting attention onstage herself.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 11:49pm

That is completely untrue.

[VeraCharles3]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 6:26am

I liked his voice on the Hello Dolly cast recording.

This is meant with no disrespect but whenever I hear of Charles Nelson Reilly, I always think of the Golden Girls episode where the girls (minus Sophia) get tickets to a party hosted by Burt Reynolds. As Rose reads out the guest list, Dorothy and Blanche cheer each name,

Dom Deluise - Yay!!

Loni Anderson - Yay!!

Charles Nelson Reilly - Silence!!

Charles Nelson Reilly - Who else Rose?

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there but it made me laugh.

[D2]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 8:12am

Lee Roy Reams (197, Michael DeVries (1995), and Florence Lacey (both revivals) along with Eddie Bracken (Horace 197, Jay Garner (1995), Alexandra Korey (Minnie Faye, 197... these are pretty phenomenal people with whom to surround yourself.

And frankly, I'd listen to Charles Nelson Reilly before the strangled nasality of Michael Crawford any day.

[zamedy]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 8:55am

VeraCharles3 - YES!! LOL. Same here!

[Broadway Geek2]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 9:06am

I saw the original "Hello Dolly!" in Washington (National Theatre) before the Broadway run. It was my first musical so it holds a special place.
CNR worked fine in the role, especially opposite Eileen Brennan.
Certainly much superior to MC, who I thought was unwatchable in the movie.

Updated On: 7/31/13 at 09:06 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 10:11am

Comic genius.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 10:23am

As a kid, I loved him on the short-lived series "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." There are some episodes posted on YouTube. Not that his work there compares, I'm sure, to his work on stage, but if you've only seen him on "Hollywood Squares" (or not at all), it's fun to see him do his stuff.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 10:24am

I loved watching his frequent appearances on Johnny Carson. He always had hilariously funny stories to tell.

His one man autobiographical show is a delight to watch and has some incredibly touching moments.
Life of Reilly

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 10:27am

As a kid, I loved him on the short-lived series "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir."

That ghost made me gay.

CNR will always be Hoodoo the Magician to me.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 11:18am

There is a woderful "Hello Dolly" website that has this description.

"Carol Channing always referred to herself as a clown. In the original Hello, Dolly!, she was surrounded by an astonishing array of clowns, larger than life clown performers: David Burns, Sondra Lee, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Eileen Brennan. Interesting that in all subsequent casting choices, they got away from that formula. That is what changed every other production from the original. Subsequent companies went for better singers than in the original. In the original production, the scenes without Dolly were as fabulous as those with her. You weren’t sitting around waiting for the Dolly scenes. You cared about Cornelius and Barnaby and them getting their adventure in New York."

I wish I had seen that cast. It sounds like subsequent revivals catered to Carols insecurities. As for the film, Michael Crawford horribly overacts, like he does everything and is completely unwatchable.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 11:46am

I was obviously not around for the original cast, but performers like Charles Nelson Reilly (and much of that cast) are what Broadway is sorely lacking.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 12:01pm

For Namo.


Lidsville is the Koo-Koo-Kookiest

[beaemma]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 12:41pm

I saw the original cast. Charles Nelson Reilly was perfect. Cornelius, as written in THE MATCHMAKER and DOLLY, is a comic, eccentric romantic lead. Casting him as a more traditonal figure makes him and his scenes rather boring. Irene Molloy should also be done as a character role, not a romantic ingenue; and Eileen Brennan was as perfect as Reilly. They were, indeed, an ideal match. HELLO DOLLY is always fun, but it's more fun when Cornelius and Irene are played by character actors with strong comic abilities.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 12:55pm

The casting of better singers was more Herman's influence (he had very little as the young composer) than CC's insecurities. Unlike The Merm.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 1:23pm

"Weird Al" Yankovic - CNR

[Anshel2]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 1:59pm

I agree that a brilliant comic performance can make up for lack of singing talent in a musical and perhaps had I seen him in the show, perhaps I'd feel differently. But for shows I haven't seen, I listen to the album solely for the music and the recorded performance and without CNR and Carol being singers, it impacts my ability to listen to the beautiful Dolly music. As an FYI, not a fan of Crawford's either, but al least I can visualize his performance when listening to the soundtrack.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 2:45pm

I admit that I'm a huge fan of Crawford (see screenname), so I'm biased. But I thought he was adorable in the role, even though in those days he had the voice of a "pained giraffe," in his own words. He was young and gawky and goofy, but that's precisely how Cornelius is supposed to be, so it worked, IMO.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 5:18pm

^ I agree!