Yvonne De Carlo in Hello, Dolly!

[nicholas24]

Posted: 2/24/12 at 4:44pm

Does anyone have any information, pics, or audio of Yvonne De Carlo in Hello, Dolly!

I know she did a few nights in Virginia in 1969, but I've only seen a few pics and absolutely no audio/video or reviews.

any info or help is appreciated.
thanks!

[NoName3]

Posted: 2/24/12 at 7:12pm

I saw this production in Winston-Salem, NC in 1969 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bus and truck tour with a lot of one night stands. The sets were based on Oliver Smith's Broadway designs but scaled down; the costumes were impressive recreations of Freddy Wittop's originals. Gower Champion's original staging and choreography were recreated by Lucia Victor.

I still remember the show and De Carlo was great as Dolly. She played the part with an Irish brogue (Dolly GALLAGHER Levi). I probably have the program tucked away somewhere in boxes but I'm afraid it might take me hours to find it.

I found a photo for you here, click to enlarge:

http://richardskipper.blogspot.com/2012/02/put-on-your-sunday-clothes-dressing-for.html


Updated On: 7/10/18 at 07:12 PM

[nicholas24]

Posted: 2/27/12 at 5:43pm

Thanks for the info!

Love that she did it with an Irish dialect. Makes me wish it was recorded even more!!

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/27/12 at 6:30pm

I think she also did the show here in So Cal - at the Grand Dinner Theatre in Anaheim, California. It was right across the street from Disneyland.

Just add it to the list of another theatre that isn't here anymore.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/27/12 at 6:45pm

I didn't know the Grand was gone, nealb1. I saw friends in a few shows there.

As for Yvonne De Carlo, I had another friend who was musical director at a theatre where I was working. He had been musical director for one of these Dolly productions starring Yvonne.

He said she was an absolute nightmare to work with and treated everyone horribly. She was demanding and insulting and tried to fire many people while she was there. At one point early in the run, someone wrote "Munster, Go Home" in lipstick on her dressing room mirror.

I had another friend who was in films with Yvonne and knew her for years, but on an entirely different level. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about her. Warm, professional, supportive, etc.

Thought I'd share the second perspective just to help balance it out. Who knows why she was so awful during "Dolly?" There are two sides to every story.

Still I love that "Munster, Go Home" story ... as mean-spirited as it is, it sounded like she had it coming.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/27/12 at 7:08pm

Tovah F. used an Irish brogue when she played Dolly at the Papermill. It didn't make her performance any better.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 2/27/12 at 7:50pm

I've heard a mix of the 2 for the original FOLLIES with Yvonne.

[ShowQueenNYC]

Posted: 3/1/12 at 10:28am

I was 6 years old when I saw her in HELLO DOLLY in Rochester, NY. My parents got me a front row seat. During the title song when Dolly is dancing on the half circle, Ms. DeCarlo saw me and waved. I couldn't wait to go backstage and meet her. I of course said something about "lily Munster" but she didn't feel the need to tell me her real name and that it was a character she played. She signed my playbill which I still have. I unfortunately don't remember anything about the production, except the cake walk where Dolly waived to me.

[sccates]

Posted: 3/1/12 at 10:56am

I was in junior high at the time when this tour played in my home-town of Joplin, Mo. Being a big MUNSTERS fan, I was excited to see Yvonne DeCarlo, and was extremely disappointed to hear over the loud-speaker that she was ill and would not be playing that night. Nice production, though, and her under-study did a great job.

[HelloDanny]

Posted: 5/8/21 at 11:46pm

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qb9zN9akscTbjKjRA
 

Any idea what year it was?

My poster says playing Oct 20 - Jan 10

[HelloDanny]

Posted: 5/8/21 at 11:46pm

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qb9zN9akscTbjKjRA
 

Any idea what year it was?

My poster says playing Oct 20 - Jan 10

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 4:09am

A friend of mine was a private nurse for the actor that played Grandpa Munster.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 11:10am

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 11:17am

HelloDanny said: "https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qb9zN9akscTbjKjRA


Anyidea what year it was?

My poster says playing Oct 20 - Jan 10"

 

 It could be either Oct 20 1968 - Jan 10 1969 or Oct 20 1969 to Jan 10 1970 - going by the posts in this thread. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 11:21am

Here's a great story about De Carlo's understudy in Hello, Dolly - her name is Toni Lamond and she was so great that director Gary Davis wanted to open the show with her instead of Yvonne! 

 

Toni Lamond - CALL ON DOLLY!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 11:25am

Here is another great article about Yvonne headlining the third national tour of HD - but the Grand Dinner Theater production was not part of that tour. That production happened later on in the mid-1970s. 

Yvonne De Carlo headlines HD's 3rd Nat'l Tour

Google is my friend! :)

 

Updated On: 5/9/21 at 11:25 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 4:40pm

 

[joevitus]

Posted: 5/9/21 at 4:55pm

My acting teacher, Chris Wilson, who created the role of mother in the original production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds at the Alley Theater in 1965, either directed her or worked with her in a dinner theater production of Gypsy. The Windmill Dinner Theatre in Houston, Texas, to be specific.

 

Updated On: 5/9/21 at 04:55 PM

[Demitri2]

Posted: 5/11/21 at 1:20pm

One afternoon I ended up a Ms. De Carlo's home thru an invitation from her son. Her home was off Laurel Canyon in a secluded area. The thing I got a kick out of was this massive oil painting of Yvonne in her heyday. It covered practically the whole living room wall. On the coffee table was a Golden Age Film book signed to Yvonne by her mother. The dining room was huge and reminded me of something out of a movie set. It was dark with stained glass windows and intricate woodwork. All it lacked was a knight in full armor in the corner of the room. I expected to see Norma Desmond entering the room at any moment.

I asked her son where his mother was and he said she was in Florida doing HELLO DOLLY!. The year was probably 1977.