"Carol Channing On Broadway!" -- All Live! No Lip-synch!
He has made guest appearances at The Oaks and Eighty-Eights in New York, has appeared twice at The "A" House in Provincetown, and was a guest star in "The Impersonators" with Jamie deRoy at The Friars Club. Richard very excitedly brought his tribute to Judy to his home town (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) for two performances to great response. In addition, since 1993 Skipper has done benefits for God's Love We Deliver and Presbyterian Camp (Upstate New York, among others) two of his favorite charities. In 1997 he was named one of the top cabaret performers of the year by Cabaret Hotline. Winner of the 1997 Leonardo daVinci Award for Carol Channing's Broadway and the 1998 Bistro Award for outstanding Impersonations. An Evening With Carol Channing...is an intimate evening with one of Broadway's Greatest Treasures. Richard Skipper takes the audience back to a time of clean wholesome entertainment. It is a tribute to Carol Channing's life and career featuring highlights from both "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Hello, Dolly!" A little bit about Miss Channing...If a special award were to be handed to the Broadway Star who never missed a single performance of a show in which he or she appeared, it's a sure bet that Carol Channing would walk away with the honor. Carol's spectacular rise to international fame began in 1950 when she landed the star role in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." She had retreated from New York to California to be with her parents. As luck would have it though, Marge Champion was auditioning hopefuls for a new revue, "Lend An Ear." Carol auditioned and, as she says, "I've never been out of work since." "Lend An Ear" made theatrical history when the show was transplanted from Hollywood to Broadway, and Miss Channing was well on her way to stardom. When Anita Loos, who wrote "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," saw Carol in the show, she said, "There is our Lorelie Lee." Brooks Atkinson, dean of American Theatre Critics, acclaimed the Channing characterization, "The most fabulous comic creation of this generation." Later Claudia Cassidy, of The Chicago Daily Tribune, was to hail Carol in "Wonderful Town" as a "genius." Miss Channing made her official nightclub debut July 8, 1957 at the fabulous Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Variety, the bible of show business, headlined, "Carol proves customers are a girl's best friend." In 1961, this one woman entertainment billed as "Show Girl" was brought to Broadway, and again the critics tossed their adjectives in the air. With Gracie Allen's blessing, Carol joined forces with George Burns, and the Burns-Channing Show made box-office history. Carol also starred at President Johnson's inaugural gala and has since made many appearances at the White House. The late Lawrence Langner, founder and director of the Theatre Guild, insisted that Miss Channing was an ideal Shavian heroine and should star in "The Millionairess." Carol barnstormed the circuit and made the box offices jingle with the biggest grosses reported for a Shaw play ever. After that, she went to Broadway with "Hello, Dolly!", then toured the country with the show, and directly into the film of Ross Hunter's "Thoroughly Modern Millie" with Julie Andrews, in which she played the part of Mrs. Muzzy Van Hossmere. And under Joe Layton's astute musical staging, Carol received an Oscar nomination for her performance. A television special she did with Pearl Bailey, not only was the talk of America, but was shown three times in England! In addition to her own specials, Carol won reviewers' raves for her performance in a Danny Thomas Special, and the nest of cuckoos on NBC-TV's "Laugh-In" made her an honorary cast regular because of the frequency of her visits.
Carol's record albums have been
enormous sellers and she is the holder of several gold records.
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Richard De La Font Agency,
Inc.
Richard
Skipper – How's this for versatility... He has portrayed Sir
Evelyn Oakleigh in "Anything Goes," Carol Channing in
"Burlesque 2000," and Stew Pot in "South Pacific."
He has appeared in Atlantic City with three long-running engagements
(twice at Trump's Taj Mahal as Carol Channing and Judy Garland and once
at The Hilton); off-Broadway in "The Ball," "Tell
Veronica," "Live From Television City: Behind The Scenes of
The Judy Garland Show" (as Judy Garland!!!), "My Piece of
Heaven," "Men of Manhattan," "Children On Their
Birthdays" and "The Selling of Lulu," just to name a few.
He
has performed in nightclubs, lounges, country clubs and cultural
centers, and since 1989 has been presenting his impersonations of Carol
Channing and Judy Garland in many cabaret rooms, namely, Don't Tell
Mama, The "21" Club (private party at the request of Arlene
Dahl), The Regent (special performance for Carol Channing!), The Ocean's
Inn (in Provincetown), and The Crown and Anchor (also in Provincetown).
