Posted: 11/2/15 at 5:56pm
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/boca-raton/fl-t2-dolly-1104-20151104-story.html
Actor Lee Roy Reams got great notices in "La Cage Aux Folles" when he played the lead last January at The Wick Theatre. But don't expect him to do drag again when he makes history as the only man to play Dolly Levi in "Hello Dolly!" Thursday through Dec. 6.
A veteran of countless New York "Hello Dolly!" productions, including Carol Channing's original as a performer in 1978, and director and choreographer for the 1995-96 revival, Reams knows the show backward and forwards. He directed Jo Anne Worley, Michele Lee, Leslie Uggams and the late Madeline Kahn in the role, he said at an early rehearsal.
Now it's his turn. "It's not that I like to wear a dress, I just like good parts," he said, alluding to Shakespeare and Kabuki, where all the roles are played by men.
The wardrobe definitely helps. Wick and her daughter Kim have an extensive Broadway show and film costume collection on display on the premises, and he's being fitted for some clothes for the show. They include a lavender suede outfit for the hat shop scene and a red Dolly dress. "You put on the clothes and the costume inhabits you," he added.
Executive producer Marilynn Wick is counting on Reams and doesn't even have a female understudy just in case, she said in an email.
"It will work," she said. "Lee Roy knows the role of Dolly inside and out, having directed it so many times. And since Dolly is a confident woman who is taking a man's role in society, he feels it will work out perfectly, and so do I."
Tony nominee Lewis J. Stadlen, who knows Reams from the New York theater scene, will play the grumpy but rich Horace Vendergelder, who Dolly covets as a matchmaker and potential husband.
"He convinced me a woman could play Dolly Levi and I said, 'wait a minute!' '' he said, laughing. "What makes the show so spectacular is Gower Champion's choreography."
A lyric baritone considered a tenor, Reams said he's comfortable with the keys in the score. He also directed and starred in "An Evening with Jerry Herman" and expects the composer, who wrote the "Dolly" music and lyrics, to drop in from Miami. "I know him from 1978," Reams said.
"Lee Roy mentioned it when he was doing 'La Cage.' It is something he has wanted to do for quite some time and Jerry Herman blessed it," Wick added about casting him in the lead.
Wick musical director Michael Ursua said Herman was in the audience to see The Wick's production of "Mame." He wrote the music and lyrics for that show, too.
"He grabbed my hand and said 'you did a wonderful job with my music,''' Ursua said.
"Hello Dolly!" is Thursday through Dec. 6 at The Wick Theatre, 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Show tickets and restaurant and costume museum packages are at http://thewick.org/ or call 561-995-2333.
