Jeremy O. Harris wants to deconstruct the Pearl Bailey "Hello, Dolly!" — Page 3

The writeup contains Harris's entire original tweet (and whether it's "the Broadway world" or "the broadwayworld"--he tweeted the latter--he didn't mean this site). And the writeup's comparison to Shuffle Along makes things clear. Shuffle Along contained parts of the original show, as well as behind the scenes material. It seems that that's what Harris is going for. A "take" on a show would no doubt have to include some of the show, even if just in rehearsal. But whatever it is, David Merrick could be a fascinating character to portray, along with Pearl and company.

joevitus said: "RagtimeRay said: "Just chiming in to remind people that Hello, Dolly! starring Carol Channing, opened on this date (January 16) in 1964.

I saw the Pearl Bailey company twice. Loved it."

Most people seem to have. Ethan Mordden describes her performance as "lazy," but from all the other responses I've read over the years, I think he might have caught her on an off night."

There's a famous story--WHICH I DID NOT WITNESS PERSONALLY--that on at least one occasion, Miss Bailey came out and told the audience she was too tired to do all her costume changes that evening. She then had her dresser wheel out the rack with all the clothes she was supposed to wear.

Allegedly, she let the audience look at the dresses for a minute, then waved the clothing off and performed the show in her house coat.

I want to repeat: I did not witness this myself and didn't even hear about it until a decade or so later. I will say Bailey was beloved enough to have gotten away with such a stunt.

Dionysus3 said: "Whatever one thinks of Harris’s work, THIS is what matters:

https://www.papermag.com/slave-play-closing-2644882148.html"

I’m a little confused with all the praise heaped on Harris for making theatre affordable. Wasn’t Slave Play selling rear mezz for $39? Most shows sell rear mezz for $49. Lotteries and rush came about a long time ago to aid people in getting more affordable options.

I know Slave Play comped a lot of people including LBGT groups which is why I thought their grosses were lower than expected.