Channing to accept honor from NBT

Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 | 8:29 a.m.

The toast of Broadway will be given a toast on the Strip on Saturday when Nevada Ballet Theatre salutes Carol Channing as its Woman of the Year for 2003.

The ceremony will take place at the Bellagio during the Black & White Ball, NBT's annual fund-raiser. Proceeds from the event benefit a variety of projects sponsored by the organization, among them education and outreach programs for disadvantaged children.

"A woman is selected who has made an impact in the dance and music world and has a connection to Las Vegas," NBT Executive Director Harry Ferris said, explaining the selection process. "Ms. Channing certainly fits those criteria."

Among the honorees over the past 20 years have been Phyllis McGuire, Debbie Reynolds and, most recently, Chita Rivera.

Ferris described the 81-year-old Broadway star, who will be 82 on Jan. 31, as "full of life and vitality. She is an unbelievable role model for anybody."

Among celebrities who will attend the gala, which is underwritten by Cartier, will be newsman Walter Cronkite, singers Clint Holmes and Paige O'Hara, and actresses Tippi Hedren and Jayne Meadows.

The black-tie affair will include a four-course gourmet meal and dancing to an orchestra. In addition to a celebrity tribute, there will be a performance by NBT dancers.

And there will be a birthday cake for Channing, whose connection to Las Vegas began relatively early.

"It began I never know the year anything happened I think it was 1955," Channing said during a telephone interview from Palm Springs, Calif., where she had made a stop on her book-signing tour. "It was at the Tropicana, which was losing money. Thank goodness I had a hit act."

According to lvhistory.com, the Tropicana opened on April 4, 1957, the first year Channing performed at the hotel.

"George Burns told me that Las Vegas was the Palace Theater of the day," Channing said. "He said that it was the essence of vaudeville, that was what Vegas was back then. The biggest names in entertainment appeared there, like in vaudeville."

Channing married Charles Lowe in Las Vegas in 1956 (the couple divorced in 1998) and she was introduced to Marlene Dietrich by Tallulah Bankhead in the lobby of the Desert Inn.

Channing said she performed frequently in Las Vegas in the '50s and '60s.

"(Often at) the Tropicana. Many times I came back to the Riviera," Channing recalled. "George Burns and I played forever at the Dunes."

Since her 1948 Broadway debut in "No For An Answer," Channing has appeared in "So Proudly We Hail," "Let's Face It" (Danny Kaye's only musical), 'Lend An Ear," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "Show Girl" and "Pygmalion," among others.

One of her most memorable roles was that of Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!", for which she won the Tony Award in 1964. Since then she has played the role more than 5,000 times.

Channing recently published her biography, "Just Lucky I Guess" (Simon & Schuster; 2002; $26), in which she shares details about her career, her life and her many celebrity friends.

Channing remembered being onstage once with Rich Little, whose repertoire of impressions includes Channing.

"It was an eerie feeling," Channing said. "He would ask me questions and then turn and grin at me just the way I grinned at him. He stood there with the same expression."

The career of the Seattle native has spanned five decades, filled with many highs.

The most memorable, she said, was when Jacqueline Kennedy brought her children, Caroline and John, to see her performance in "Hello, Dolly!" a year after the assassination of President John Kennedy.

"It was one year to the day after the assassination," Channing said. "She brought them to a matinee. It was the first time they had been out (socially) since the assassination. I was very proud of everyone. No one asked them for an autograph. They just let them enjoy the show."

Channing said Caroline, with her mother and brother standing behind her, knocked on the star's dressing room door.

"I said, 'Why, Caroline Kennedy, do come in.' And she turned to her mother and whispered, 'Dolly knows my name,' " Channing said. "That was so cute. She had no idea she was famous."

Channing is busy these days promoting her memoirs on a national tour.

"I'm so rushed," she said. "They've got me doing something every second."

It took Channing almost five years to write the book.

"I wrote every word and they printed it without any edits," she said proudly, and says she probably will write another book.

And Channing says she is busy on another stage production that she's not allowed to discuss.

"I'm working hard on it," Channing said. "But I can't talk about it because then half the energy of it is gone. But it's the show I have wanted to do all my life.

"It might be terrible, but I'm not going to leave this world without doing the one show I always wanted to do."