FRINGE FESTIVAL Spectacular - Hello, Dolly?! ChatterBox Divas BEHIND THE SCENES

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The Rochester Fringe Festival, along with most events, was .... different this year. 

The COVID 19 Pandemic nearly cancelled our local festival. As an entertainer of musical/theatrical productions, this decision was startling. The Fringe Festival is the perfect environment to try out new/obscure/original material in front of an audience. My past productions have included tributes to female singers and a reenactment of original woman's suffrage speeches. 

An official announcement was made that the Fall event would go on as planned... but virtually. My daughter and I had been presenting our ChatterBox Divas REMAKES: What Were They Thinking?! as a distraction from lost live performances ... since March! 

Ok! Hold my beer! We've got this! We had already produced seventeen episodes and five specials!  Why not create a special Fringe-only episode???  The movie choice had to be special. We couldn't just use any movie to review/rant about... HELLO DOLLY seemed to be the perfect choice with which to 'pull the stops out!' Our performance submission of a ChatterBox Divas Fringe Spectacular was approved! We were 'going' to the Rochester Fringe Festival! Well, virtually, anyway. Here is our plug for the show. We're Going to Fringe!

Our normal routine is to view a movie, followed by its remake. The film, HELLO DOLLY, was based on THE MATCHMAKER, which is a 1958 black and white comedy, based on the 1954 Thornton Wilder play The Merchant of Yonkers. (That play was based on John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce, A Day Well Spent.) Unfortunately, Thornton Wilder's play was a flop.
                           
Our loyal, and faithful, media loving cat Scully, was on hand for the viewing of both films. (He did not seem to have a preference.) Orangey the cat  had a very minor role in THE MATCHMAKER. Scully may have been insulted by the neglect of sheer talent, which is quite evident by the look on his face! [left pic]
           
It's important to note that Orangey the Cat, was once a very prolilfic cat actor for his time. His IMDB credits him as a two time winner of the Patsy Award (top animal actor of the year!) and over fifteen years experience in films. (RHUBARB, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S [Cat], THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS, GIGOT, and TV show, Our Miss Brooks)   
       
  As a side bar, Scully feels that Orangey's talent was severely underused in THE MATCHMAKER!! 

Generally, following our film screenings, we begin discussing the features of both films - similarities, differences, oddities, music and so on. The characters/filming styles are compared as well - therein lies the material for our rants!  

The 'lock down,' due to the durned Pandemic, has offered us ample time to add to our creativity in filming. Accessories, props and dolls have continued to play a big part in our REMAKES episodes. (The Dolls even had their 'big moment' in a short episode all their own in The Dolls STAYCATION!)
      
      Fortunately for ChatterBox Divas, I have an extensive doll, costumes, AND accessory collection!!
 
Our Fringe episode was divided - costume wise - into two segments - from the opening of the film at Horace Vandelger's store, leading up to the fiasco at Irene Molloy's Hat Shop. Naturally, special hats were a must!

Cast of main actors in THE MATCHMAKER and HELLO DOLLY.

Below is a (very bizarre) promotional picture of the cast from THE MATCHMAKER. 
Paul Ford (Horace Vandergelder) 
Shirley Booth  (Dolly 'Gallagher' Levi)  [Yes! She played HAZEL!]
Shirley MacLaine  (Irene Molloy) [She was awesome!]
Anthony Perkins (Cornelius Hackl) [We loved him! He went on to play Norman Bates in PSYCHO!]  
Perry Wilson (Minnie Fay) [married to the film's director Joseph Anthony!]
Robert Morse (Barnaby Tucker)

  The cast of HELLO DOLLY.
  Walter Matthau (Horace Vandergelder)                Barbra Streisand (Dolly Levi)
                     
It was written that Walter was strongly against Barbra's being cast in the role of Dolly. Their working relationship was barely above civility...barely.
  
Michael Crawford (Cornelius Hackl) 
Danny Lockin (Barnaby Tucker)
    
                                                                                        Marianne McAndrew (Irene Molloy)
                                                                                        E.J. Peaker (Minnie Fay)
The second segment to our Fringe spectacular
 - Harmonia Gardens - where all is revealed!                   
 (prepping our set and ourselves)                                                        
     

  We discuss the pivotal Harmonia Gardens scene - notice the difference in the sets.
   THE MATCHMAKER

HELLO DOLLY - Harmonia Gardens - it's evident what a bigger budget for a musical can produce!

And...of course...there's that glamorus entrance by Dolly, in a $4,000 gown, made of 14K gold, weighing 40 pounds! 

Our favorite moment in the film! Louis Armstrong's duet with Barbra Streisand.

Why YES! We DO ....
......occasionally break out in song!!

                                                      


One more thing....is it written in Barbra's contract that she must exit singing dramatically, 
while onboard moving transport?? Apparently, it worked so well in her very recent 
filming of FUNNY GIRL......... 


.......why not include it in HELLO DOLLY!
Just sayin.....


There you have it! Hope you were able to see the special Fringe spectacular...there is a slight chance that we may make it visible for a Holiday treat. Let us know - if there is enough interest, we can include the episode on our ChatterBox Divas YouTube channel. In the meantime, catch up with us here and keep watching movies! 


Thank you!
We had fun, hoped you enjoyed this episode as well.


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