Carol Channing and Friends

As a benefit for the Dr. Carol Channing Foundation for the Arts and California Musical Theatre, Carol Channing, her husband Harry Kullijian, JoAnne Worley, Carole Cook and the surprising Joyce Aimée gave a two hour performance as a tag end event to the Music Circus season.  The first half had JoAnne Worley telling stories, including one about a Music Circus performance of HELLO, DOLLY! when a skunk came right up on the stage and sprayed the actress playing Irene Molloy.  Worley’s reply: “Irene, your perfume is a bit strong today.”  She sang a comedy version of “‘Till There Was You” and then introduced an old-timer, unknown to me, Joyce Aimée.  Aimée plays the accordion and sings Edith Piaf songs, among other things.  She has slightly bawdy jokes and has good anecdotal stories about playing vegas and opening for top name acts.  She was completely mesmerizing, able to hold the attention of that big audience and thoroughly entertaining.  The entire show could have simply been Joyce Aimée and I would have been content.  Next came Carole Cook, who had been Maggie in the original cast of 42nd STREET and has had a long show biz career of Broadway, TV and nightclubs.  She did a very funny stand up comedy routine and finished with a song.  This concluded the first act and for the second we had Carol Channing.  Dear Carol Channing.  She was fragile and accident prone.  She got lost in her routine many times (a routine I have seen before and knew better than she did at this point) and her husband Harry had to feed her the cues to get her back on track.  Yet, once the music started, she was right there where she belonged and sold her several numbers like an old pro.  She did small versions of “Girl From Little Rock”, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”, “Hello, Dolly!” and the Ephraim speech leading right into “Before the Parade Passes By,” which was lovely.  Channing’s age was showing and her difficulty in getting through her material was uncomfortable, but we were right there with her for support.  She was trying to support the next generation of artists by raising money to fund arts programs in the schools.  More power to her!  What a great way to finish out a career.  The experience was joyful, but the sad fact was, we were looking at a few of the last of a brand of entertainer from another era and they are irreplaceable.