I don't know why I didn't mention it at the time but back in 2016, my friend Valerie Perri was starring in a production of Hello, Dolly! down in Redondo Beach. Valerie is this wonderful lady I've known a long time who stars in musical comedies and concerts and has a wonderful voice and of course I'd go see her in anything.
I took Amber and I think also my friend John and we went down there and had dinner and saw Valerie give a great performance…and she won't mind this one criticism: She's not old enough for the part. Many a lady who plays Dolly — from Ms. Streisand on down — is not old enough to play Dolly Levi. Valerie probably won't be old enough in twenty years either because she seems to be able to do anything except age.
But it was a really fine production of a show that I've seen an amazing number of times considering that I'm not the biggest fan of it. But I am of Valerie. Here she is doing her part of the title number…and she's wearing Carol Channing's original headpiece! That's pretty impressive as is this video, though I recall better audio in the theater than you'll get here. Thanks to Shelly Goldstein for telling me this was on YouTube…