Veteran and Award-winning Chicago-born and Los Angeles-based Theatre Artist and Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago and Excaliber Shakespeare Company Los Angeles Archival Project Founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Actor Darryl Maximilian Robinson shares information and insights regarding his more than five decades of involvement in The Performing Arts.
Darryl Maximilian Robinson Celebrates Pearl Bailey's And Cab Calloway's 1967 Triumph In An All-Black Cast Of "Hello, Dolly!"
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AS BLACK HISTORY MONTH CONCLUDES, YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT IN THE THEATRE, DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON, FOUNDER OF THE EXCALIBER SHAKESPEARE COMPANY OF CHICAGO, EXCALIBER PRODUCTIONS, LTD IN ST.LOUIS AND THE EXCALIBER SHAKESPEARE COMPANY LOS ANGELES ARCHIVAL PROJECT,
RECALLS A HISTORIC EVENT!
A HISTORIC BLACK "HELLO, DOLLY!" STARRING PEARL BAILEY AS MRS. DOLLY GALLAGHER LEVI AND CAB CALLOWAY AS HORACE VANDERGELDER!
By 1967, juggernaut hit Producer David Merrick knew that ticket sales had declined from the time of his original 1964 smash success musical "Hello, Dolly!" starring the late, great and acclaimed Carol Channing ( the 1964 Tony Award Winner for Best Leading Actress In A Musical for her legendary performance as Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi ) had opened.
Merrick needed to find a way to bring new life to "Hello, Dolly!", or it might have to close.
This was the time of the peak of The Civil Rights movement and Black citizens wanted more job opportunities and more freedom to engage publicly during the time of the beginning of a post-Jim Crow America.
The brilliant and masterful Producer Merrick hit on a idea that would both re-super-charge ticket sales and address the needs of some very talented African-American musical theatre performers!: He would sign the wonderful African-American comedic actress and singer Pearl Bailey to star as a cast replacement in the role of Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi in "Hello, Dolly!", and contract as her co-star the African-American music legend Cab Calloway as the thrifty merchant Horace Vandergelder, and, without initially telling Bailey, THEN HIRE A HIGHLY-TALENTED, ALL-BLACK CAST OF "HELLO, DOLLY!" that would reinvent and reimagine the musical hit so much that masses of new audiences would pay to see what a BRAND NEW "HELLO, DOLLY!" LOOKS LIKE!
And Producer David Merrick's gamble on a different world and fresh take on "Hello, Dolly!" PAID OFF!
Box office flew to the sky again! Critics loved the BAILEY-CALLOWAY, HUGELY-TALENTED, BLACK ACTING COMPANY OF "HELLO, DOLLY!" WHICH MADE HISTORY ON BROADWAY!
By the end of the first season, for her performance as Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi, and for his portrayal of Horace Vandergelder, PEARL BAILEY AND CAB CALLOWAY BOTH WON AND SHARED A OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL!
And, PEARL BAILEY AS MRS. DOLLY GALLAGHER LEVI got some additional awards recognition, too.
Under the rules of The American Theatre Wing, which administers The Antoinette Perry Awards ( THE TONYS ), CAST REPLACEMENTS IN BROADWAY SHOWS ARE BARRED FROM BEING NOMINATED FOR AWARDS!
So...THE VOTING MEMBERS OF THE TONYS BESTOWED A SPECIAL 1968 TONY AWARD TO PEARL BAILEY FOR HER PERFORMANCE AS MRS. DOLLY GALLAGHER LEVI IN "HELLO, DOLLY!"
DAVID MERRICK HAD MADE "HELLO, DOLLY!" SUCH A NEW HIT ON BROADWAY, THAT PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON AND FIRST LADY LADYBIRD JOHNSON FLEW FROM D. C. TO SEE THE SHOW, AND AFTERWARDS, JOINED PEARL BAILEY, CAB CALLOWAY AND THE ENTIRE CAST ON THE STAGE DURING CURTAIN CALL!
THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME A U. S. PRESIDENT AND FIRST LADY DID THAT IN AMERICAN HISTORY!
And, three years after her 1967 triumph on Broadway in "Hello, Dolly!", in 1970, President Richard M. Nixon invited Pearl Bailey to The White House and named her The United States Ambassador of LOVE!
So, here in this article are some photos of The 1967 All-Black Cast of Theatre Producer David Merrick's "HELLO, DOLLY!"
ON THE WEST COAST, theatregoers have seen veteran and award-winning Chicago-born and stage-trained actor Darryl Maximilian Robinson appear in numerous roles onstage during his 14 years as a City of Angels thespian. He has garnered critical praise for his performances as Major-General Stanley in "The Pirates of Penzance," District Attorney Flint in "Night of January 16th," Booker T. Washington in "Ragtime," Butler John Lawless in "The Happiest Millionaire" and Henry Albertson in "The Fantasticks." But usually he has performed his work in small and intimate venues. However, this past summer, he shared his talents in a somewhat larger forum. Darryl Maximilian Robinson, who received both a 1997 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award for Outstanding Actor In A Principal Role In A Play and a 1997 Chicago Black Theatre Alliance / Ira Aldridge Award nomination for Best Leading Actor In A Play for his critically-praised performance as Sam ...
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