My grandfather took me to see Pearl Bailey in Hello Dolly in May 1968. I was overwhelmed and overjoyed. That was my first Broadway show at 14 years old and it changed my life. What a memory. Thanks grand daddy and thanks Miss Bailey!
Maus Merryjest this is my first glimpse of a Pearl as Dolly. Omg! She is fantastic! Her voice is like velvet. Her stage presence is electrifying and her acting is sooooo good. She is emoting and emphasizing the lines to perfection. It’s like she’s not even acting she just IS!
When I was 5yrs old my mother and me and my sister stayed in a hotel in South Jersey, near the Garden State Race track. Across from a club, The Latin Casino. Many stars who played at the club stayed at the hotel. Pearl Bailey taught me to swim along with her little girl who was about 3. She also had a son my older sister's age. We spent a lot of time with them. Pearl was a wonderful mom and a good friend to my mom. For many years as she traveled the world she would send me and my sister little gifts from all over the world. She was one of a kind. She never forgot us.
I had the joy of seeing her perform with her husband, drummer Louie Bellson, in Florida, in the 1980's. They were a marvelous couple, each supremely gifted.
My first Broadway show was Pearl in Hello Dolly. That was 51years ago and I still remember it vividly. I've seen many Dollys since,the only one who has come close to Pearls performance is Bernadette Peters.
This was the Greatest performance of Hello Dolly ever Pearl Bailey took my breath away.. It was 1088 at the Shubert Theatre in Boston.. She I t She will be missed very very much. Such a warm loving person. Rest in Peace Perlie Mae.
