• For more than 25 years, Richard Skipper has been documenting the extraordinary history of one of Broadway's most beloved musicals, Hello, Dolly! Through his internationally recognized CallonDolly project, Richard has conducted more than 1,000 interviews with artists and theatre professionals connected to the musical and its remarkable history.

    Richard Skipper Celebrates Hello, Dolly! It brings that history off the page and into the room.

    Through stories, rare firsthand recollections, theatre history, and Richard's own experiences, audiences discover the people behind the phenomenon—from Jerry Herman and Gower Champion to the extraordinary women who stepped into Dolly Gallagher Levi's shoes, including Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Ethel Merman, Dorothy Lamour, and many others.

    Richard brings a particularly personal perspective to the story. For two decades, he traveled internationally appearing as Carol Channing, an experience that eventually led to a close friendship with Carol herself. That relationship, combined with decades of interviews and research, gives Richard a unique window into both the public history and the human stories behind Hello, Dolly!

    More than a lecture about a Broadway musical, Richard Skipper Celebrates Hello, Dolly! is an entertaining journey through Broadway history, filled with the stories of the people who created, performed, preserved, and continue to love this landmark American musical.

    It's not simply the story of Hello, Dolly!—it's the story of the people who kept Dolly coming back where she belongs.

  • Richard's current touring show, Richard Skipper Celebrates! Life Lessons from Legends, is an audience-driven celebration where stories, songs, and shared memories remind us that the people who inspire us become the legends in our own lives.

    Before each performance, audience members are invited to submit questions that help shape the evening. Those questions lead to stories, songs, laughter, conversation, and unexpected moments, ensuring that no two performances are ever the same.

    Drawing upon Richard's friendships, encounters, and conversations with artists including Carol Channing, Jerry Herman, Julie Wilson, Marilyn Maye, Lucie Arnaz, Melissa Manchester, Lesley Ann Warren, and others, the show celebrates not only well-known legends but the mentors, family members, friends, teachers, and individuals whose wisdom continues to shape our lives.

    The show's New York engagement at The Laurie Beechman Theatre sold out, launching an expanding series of engagements around the country.

    Critical response to Life Lessons from Legends has included:

    “An immersive event space.” — NiteLife Exchange

    “A human standing ovation for the business we call show.” — Theater Pizzazz

  • Richard Skipper Celebrates! is an intimate, spontaneous evening of songs, stories, conversation, and surprises built around Richard Skipper's more than four decades in LIVE ENTERTAINMENT—and the questions the audience has always wanted to ask him.

    Nothing is off the table. Broadway, cabaret, Carol Channing, Hello, Dolly!, the people Richard has interviewed, the stars he has known, backstage stories, career highs and lows, New York, growing up with a dream of being in show business, and the unexpected turns that have taken him from South Carolina to stages around the country.

    The audience helps steer the evening. Their questions determine which stories get told, which memories surface, and sometimes even where the music takes Richard next. One question can completely change the direction of the show, which means no two evenings can ever be exactly alike.

    After a lifetime of interviewing other people, Richard Skipper Celebrates! turns the tables and puts Richard in the hot seat.

    Come with your questions. Richard will bring the stories.

    It is personality-driven, spontaneous, funny, revealing and unpredictable.