This 'Dolly' isn't a clone, he's an admirer

Friday, June 13, 2008
BY PETER FILICHIA Star-Ledger Staff
NEW JERSEY STAGE

In a manner of speaking, Carol Channing is doing "Hello, Dolly!" one more time.
Only Richard Skipper will be standing in -- and singing and performing -- for her. Skipper is by trade a Carol Channing impersonator.

"Not a female impersonator," he emphasizes. "Not a drag queen," he insists. "I'm an actor who's not just playing Carol Channing, but Carol Channing as that meddlesome matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi in Jerry Herman's famous musical."

This one-night concert of "Hello, Dolly!" is a benefit for the ReVision Theatre of Asbury Park, a new professional company "dedicated to producing invigorating theater with a fresh new perspective." Having a man perform as Channing certainly supports the mission statement.

Skipper says that on Saturday night, he'll be "off-book" -- meaning he'll have memorized his lines and songs -- and so will his co-star, Charles Karel, who plays Horace Vandergelder (the object of Dolly's affection). Those portraying the other characters will carry their scripts on stage, where an orchestra will sit as well. Lest it all sound too Spartan, Skipper says "a generous choir and chorus of 125 voices" will back up the proceedings.

Though he lives in Sparkill, N.Y., Skipper grew up on a tobacco farm in Conway, N.C., to a father who was one of 10 children, and a mother who was the oldest of 16.

"And nobody in the whole family had a bit of interest in show business. I learned it all from watching variety shows on TV in the era when those were on," says the 47-year-old.

While he was in middle school, a local acting teacher gave him voice lessons in exchange for lawn work. At 13, Skipper made a vow that he'd move to New York in five years, and indeed did, on the fifth anniversary of the oath. Some stock jobs followed, though his friends constantly told him he should do something with his ability to mimic stars' voices.

"Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Lucille Ball and Phyllis Diller, among others," he says. "The one everyone seemed to like best, though, was Carol Channing. They liked that I wasn't making fun of her, but really wanted to sound like her."

So, reluctantly, Skipper acquired a wardrobe worthy of Channing, did meticulous research on her life, and forged an act.

When Channing was announced to perform at Carnegie Hall in 1994, a pianist friend of Skipper's said he was playing the after-party, and that Skipper should come dressed as Channing and meet his inspiration.

"I agonized on whether or not I should chance it," he says. "Then I finally decided I would. I figured, if she doesn't like what I'm doing, I'll never do it again."

He went to the party, approached her, and she asked balefully, "How long have you been impersonating me?" Says Skipper, "And when I said, 'Well, who says you're not impersonating me?' she screamed with delight. I knew at that moment I had her."

When Channing asked him about himself, Skipper stayed in character, and instead gave Channing's own biographical details, down to the name of a classmate she had in fourth grade. "That's when she said, 'Let me see you do your act,' and my pianist friend and I were ready."
Channing gave her blessing. "She told me that others she'd seen impersonate her had been nasty, mean and vicious. 'This,' she said, 'is a valentine.' And that's kept me going ever since."

Peter Filichia may be reached at pfilichia@starledger.com or (973) 392-5995.