Richard Skipper lives to be Broadway star Carol Channing

Thursday, August 28, 2003

By VICTORIA SHOULDIS
For the Monitor

Like lots of children, Richard Skipper grew up mimicking what he saw on television and dreaming of what it might be like to be famous. But he never dreamed he would grow up to be Carol Channing.

This weekend, Skipper brings the divine Ms. C. to the Inn on Newfound Lake with his award-winning - and if he has anything to say about it, Broadway bound - cabaret showcase "An Evening with Carol Channing."

"The first time I ever became aware of Carol Channing was on one of the versions of the Lucy show where Lucy pretended to be Carol," said Skipper. "I imitated it because when I was a kid I imitated everything I saw on television. Man or woman, it didn't matter to me. But at that time I didn't even know that Carol Channing was a real person."

That early talent for mimicry, though, convinced the young Skipper that his future was on the stage. And so while still a teenager he headed to New York City from his native South Carolina - leaving behind a family that didn't quite approve of his theatre ambitions or his sexual identity - to make his mark on the world.

But the world didn't take a whole lot of notice of the fledgling performer with an earnest, big-hearted charm - a charm that he has not lost despite two decades in the difficult theater world - until one night at a piano bar when Skipper suddenly seemed to be able to channel the talented chanteuse and gay icon. On that night, Skipper - buoyed by some friends and perhaps some spirits - got up and sang "Hello, Dolly" in his best Lucy-as-Carol manner.

"The place just went crazy - everybody just loved it!" recalled Skipper. "It was clearly my destiny. But I kept fighting it."

That night, a friend sidled up to Skipper and said "You need to be Carol Channing and I need to dress you." He declined.

Then, Skipper went to audition

for an off-Broadway show, and in one of those big city coincidences, the casting director had heard him the night of his piano bar sing.

"He asked me if I did a full-costumed Carol and I wanted a part in the show so I lied and said I did!" said Skipper. "And I went home and called my costumer friend and told her 'I'm ready.' "

Thirty minutes later the friend showed up with a case of makeup and some slightly used formal gowns, and Skipper had made a physical - and spiritual - journey to Carol.

"I went back and I got the part and I brought the house down and the very next night my part was cut from the play because it just didn't fit with the rest of what was going on," said Skipper. "But I knew what I had to do."

Skipper turned his affection for Carol Channing into an obsession, reading every Hollywood biography mentioning Channing and studying performances until he had a grasp of every nuance and attitude - and glitzy costume - that was Carol. It helped that he looked stunning in a dress - a fact that Skipper readily acknowledges - but Skipper said the real work was getting the inner Channing just right.

"My show is a portrayal, not an impersonation," Skipper stressed this week as he raved about a recent performance of his "Evening With Carol" in the Poconos. "In impersonation, the actor is really interpreting the character through his own eyes - my point here is, for those few hours, to be Carol. I'm no longer Richard Skipper when I'm out there. I'm her."

And while that physical resemblance is stunning and earns the most attention, it is the captured Channing spirit that has allowed Skipper to so successfully play his role. He has an assistant collect questions from the audience - being sure to omit any racy or mean-spirited ones - and he answers them unrehearsed and in character, so that he can tell you with confidence, for example, that Channing's favorite leading man of all time was George Burns.

"Sometimes people come to the show looking for a campy, drag-queen thing - and that's not what this is about at all. My best audience is a group of blue-haired Republicans who are theater savvy," said Skipper. "Sure I am a man portraying a woman, but that's kind of beside the point. It's no different that Hal Holbrook doing Mark Twain, really. Except they're both boys."

The high point of his life - so far - was the evening in 1997 when Skipper, just about to launch his one-man (or maybe one-woman) Channing show crashed a post-performance party for the New York City Gay Men's Chorus. Dressed in full Channing regalia, Skipper suddenly found himself face to face with the woman herself.

"I saw her and I went 'Oh my God!' and then she called me over and she started interviewing me as if I was her," said Skipper, still thrilled at the memory. "She said I was scaring her - that I knew her life better than she did!"

Channing kiddingly told Skipper that it wasn't fair that he was a little prettier than she was, and then, at her request, he offered an impromptu performance of his yet-to-be performed tribute.

"She told me that all of the imitators she'd ever seen were nasty and mean and vicious - she was almost moved to tears and she said that I presented her with love, and respect, and polish," said Skipper. "It was truly the most gracious and nicest moment in my life - she told me that I could take the Carol Channing gauntlet and run with it."

Skipper did. He has performed his "Evening" regularly for the last six years, and although he has made side forays - including a dead-on Judy Garland - he's hoping to be able to eventually land on Broadway as Channing.

"My show is never the same two nights in a row - it's fun and it's upbeat and it's appropriate for everybody," said Skipper. "I like to think of it as a big old party, and I'm your hostess."