Saturday, September 1, 2012

Carol Channing: Larger than Life



Carol Channing first caught my attention as the white queen in the TV movie Alice in Wonderland, she was so silly and entertaining with her distinctive voice and expressive face. She is a one of a kind entertainer that one can’t help but smile at whenever she is on stage or screen. The recent documentary Carol Channing: Larger than Life is a great tribute to her stage persona and a fun look at many of her famous performances. It also shows a lovely romance when she reconnected with her junior high sweetheart in their eighties after more than sixty years apart. As she walks down Broadway in the movie, performers and tourists stop her to tell her about how much they love her and it’s easy to see why. She makes time for her fans throughout the movie and cast members from her Broadway shows are clearly smitten with her. While the movie doesn’t go into much depth about her life (including what sounds like a very unhappy marriage), it is a wonderful salute to one of America’s greatest performers. 

In case you needed further evidence of her amazingness: Carol Channing in Hello Dolly, performing Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend and as Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

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