HELLO, DOLLY! Phyllis Diller

[@Hwilki]

This is such a delicious treat! I’ve admired Phyllis since I was four years old and have always dreamed of hearing her in my favorite theatrical piece… and here you are delivering a true gem once again! This has granted a wish I’ve had for many, many years. Thank you!

[@brandemour]

She brings an entire new dimension to Dolly that I have never seen. So incredibly vulnerable. I love her. I will post her autograph soon.

[@ronronizetti2534]

God BLESS YOU ♡♡♡ I NEVER thought I'd see/hear this marvel! - I can see why Jerry was so impressed! * He was always very careful/respectful while Carol was alive, but anytime he spoke of Phyllis he stopped just short of proclaiming her his favorite Dolly ♡

[@lagrangeleo]

I saw Phyllis in Hello Dolly in March 1970, I remember it well. She was great, and her co-star was Richard Deacon, and Georgia Engel played Minnie Fay. My first Broadway show!

[@chrisnorman9980]

It’s always so satisfying to hear an audience react enthusiastically to a performer who isn’t known as a musical talent blow them away with her performance. From the applause you can tell Miss Diller did just that. She was always so funny. I loved her in her short-lived TV series, The Pruitts of Southampton - hilarious.

[@potroastpig]

There is a recording of this?! I’m so happy! She is fantastic- didn’t know she was a singer. I would have loved to see her live in this role - what a treat!!!!!!!!!!

[@aoteyza]

What a treat to see and hear this!!! When I first moved to Vegas in the 90s, Phyllis Diller had a show in Laughlin and she not only did comedy but she played some classical music on the piano and told stories of her run as Dolly on Broadway!!! What an amazing talent!!!

[@showtunestarpower]

Wow! Diller really sings! This is terrific! I never thought I'd have the opportunity to hear Phyllis sing the role. From what I hear, she is so committed and authentic in the role. Thank you1

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Absolutely wonderful! She sings with heart and soul, makes every word count. And, gee, it is nice to hear a lovely alto, instead of a baritone. Ms. Diller has impeccable diction. Always loved her.

[@sgtdroxie]

OMG 😲 😱 I have always wanted to hear her in this role and thought it would never happen. I figured it just didn't exist. THANK YOU! I love Phyllis Diller.

[@yelanates]

^this

[@schuylkillmike8048]

This!!!

[@matthewarter5342]

SAME! And actually…. Hearing her (and seeing her) here….. I’ve now heard all of the original broadway Dollies.

[@im2bused]

She was an amazing talent. She was also a concert pianist!

[@richardmayora1289]

Growing up in NYC, I was around a lot of older gay men who breathed Broadway. Most of them saw every Dolly and unanimously said she was the best.

[@CountofBeretania]

I don’t know what I was expecting. I am genuinely and pleasantly surprised that she fits this role like a glove and she actually had a marvellous singing voice. It’s almost criminal there’s no album for this particular production.

[@kenmcleod3733]

Saw her in DOLLY. One of the best. She set aside her comic persona and ACTED the role, which almost no one did. Channing was Channing, Pearl was Pearl, but Phyllis was DOLLY!!

[@dmnemaine]

I saw Carol Channing do the role in the early 1980s. The one word I'd use to describe her performance is magnetic. She stepped onto the stage, and you were immediately drawn to her. She commanded your attention.

[@JorgeAl]

My God! She is fantastic! ❤️🌹

[@janicegreenberg6680]

Thank you very much for sharing this. Her “Before the Parade Passes By” is exquisite and poignant.

[@billobrien5118]

It can induce a tear or two.

[@Alex-nf1jy]

I never knew Diller could sing like this! she's so good! thank you for the upload

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Oh, dear Lord, wish I could seen her as Dolly. Phyllis had heart and soul. Miss Channing had craft.

[@johnflynn9619]

Phyllis was Great. Very tuneful. She did it on Broadway. RIP

[@kenmcleod3733]

She was the first Dolly I saw on my first trip to NYC, January 1970 as a 21 year old college senior. She was wonderful!

[@samueljaramillo4221]

I never knew she was such a great singer. Fantastic 👏👏👍🏻

[@robertmcdannold3757]

These are awesome and seem so rare. I’ll chime in and say I never thought I’d hear Phyllis sing from Dolly. I’ve wondered if she worked any Diller-isms into the performance. A couple of HA’s thrown in might’ve been fun and would’ve brought a good (if not cheap) laugh.

[@hanschristianbrando5588]

What a voice, what a personality. I hope she got the reception she deserved, even though she was considered a fill-in between Pearl Bailey and Ethel Merman.

[@bostonviewer5430]

Correction: Phyllis Diller closed the first run and then David Merrick reopened it with Pearl Bailey, sent Ms. Pearl on the road and at the very end Ethel Merman was last in the original Boadway run.

[@jaykaplan2862]

Phyllis came in after Pearl Bailey's run and before Ethel Merman as the last 7th Dolly of the original Broadway run.

[@haroldonobre]

Thank you so much for this gift, dear Aurora. I had no idea that Ms. Diller had played Dolly Levi, not even that she could sing that well. Here in Brazil she is only remembered for the comedies with Bob Hope. I would love for there to be more clips about this show. Anyway, many thanks again.

[@gregkristensen2170]

Saw her from the second row center at the St James - a wonderful memory, and she was fantastic IMO AND THANK YOU!!!!

[@christopherbush9027]

She was such a fascinating person. A trailblazer in stand up and a fixture of pop culture for several decades - this was great to finally see! Thank you for posting Spiderwoman!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Yes indeed--while this was her only Broadway appearance, she was at the time a household name for her hundreds of TV appearances as a comic.

[@stevenott37]

Love her and never thought I’d get to hear her in the role! THANK YOU!!!!

[@haineshisway]

She was fantastic in the show - really played Dolly, save for a costume malfunction on her entrance - and she dealt with it hilariously.

[@jacob951245457]

What a treat this was. My pal was a Mental Health Counselor. She had called on him a number of times while intoxicated. "I'm dying" Phyllis always said. Her room was filled with bottles of liquor. He always heard her story until she fell asleep. He would always then see her a few days later in a dance club dancing to herself, enjoying the music with a glass in her hand. Fun times!

[@kathrynmast916]

I always love Phyllis! I did not know she had such a great singing voice nor that she performed Dolly.

[@danielpagel8379]

This is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing it here. Now I just need to hear Eve Arden in the Chicago sit-down of HELLO, DOLLY!

[@danadams1427]

Great job Ms. Diller!

[@laurencemyers-j6y]

I once saw her perform at a Manhattan leather bar..of course there were roaring cheers

[@josephruggiero1280]

What a treat!!!$

[@sanfordpress8943]

Phyllis Diller was an amazing woman. Just amazing

[@MJay-ny5bb]

Bless her heart.

[@johnsannuto4209]

Wow! Who knew??? Excellent!

[@photobygil]

I saw Phyllis Diller on tv in 1976, I think on the Mike Douglas Show, possibly Merv Griffin. She sang "Before the Parade Passes By", & explained that the red dress was not correct for the number, but she knew that the audience would want to see it, so there it was. I'm not sure why she was singing a "Hello Dolly" song so many years after the fact, & I don't think this clip is from that particular talk show (this seems to be a different setting, with the audience at tables instead of theatrical or auditorium seating). Fun to see this, plus the bonus of the very rare audio excerpts. Thanks for sharing!

[@johndelossantos7678]

Wow 👏 she’s so much better than I expected she would be

[@davidhartsook509]

What a remarkable talented woman

[@jaykaplan2862]

This is so wonderful! Thank you for posting. And if there additional songs you can post, we would be most appreciative:)

[@martinfreeman6491]

Oh yes I saw her second performance. Peral or Phyliss. LOVED

[@jmdocs]

Geez, she really can sing !I 'd always assumed she got on by her comic chops alone, but I was clearly wrong.

[@dmnemaine]

Phyllis Diller was a more adequate singer than I thought.

[@giftedsun]

Phyllis got robbed. Great comedian, sure. Pathsetter. Check. Broadway Legend. Should have been. Great pathos. Incredible singer.

[@sgtdroxie]

Where's "I Stand for Motherhood" and "Dancing"? Would love to hear her sing all the sounds. Was this a full recording?

[@jpbran]

Looks like it’s from a talk or variety show promoting her run… Doubt there’s any full video recording.

[@McKenzie_Scale]

What’s the source of the audio sections? I’ve searched years for a bootleg of her in this show.

[@potroastpig]

Would love to know that too!

[@RudigerVT]

Proof again that dying's easy; comedy's hard. She could do it all

[@suzannecoffman5741]

I always enjoyed her comedy but didn't realize she could sing.

[@billobrien5118]

Now you know she can!

[@johnpickford4222]

She also did WONDERFUL TOWN in regional theaters.

[@arlenecerf8833]

She an accomplished pianist and painter as well!!!!!

[@SamTuckerSmith]

Mustn’t have been easy to be sandwiched between those two. But she’s lovely.

[@johnpickford4222]

Yes, she is excellent. Three months seems like a limited engagement rather than an actual block of that most of the other women had (9 to 18 months). This may not be true but I read that she wanted to use the name of “Fang” for her first husband in the monologues but was overruled.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Ethel Merman agreed to star (for three months, which got extended to nine) but would not be ready until March 1970. Diller was hired to fill in for the three months between Pearl Bailey and Merman.

[@Itstonytime77]

They did to Dolly what they are doing to Chicgao now they started to put a lot of celebrities in it to keep it running.

[@peterdelocis7395]

One of the reasons Producer David Merrill did that was to make 20th Century Fox pay a penalty, since they couldn’t release the movie with Streisand and Matthau until the show closed.

[@richardmayora1289]

Not the same thing. Merrick chose people who had the talent to play the role as well as generate box office. There were not just "celebrities." Chicago has had reality star Nene Leakes, talk show host Wendy Williams and now jiggler Pamela Anderson.....Not the same thing at all.

[@chrisn7259]

@@richardmayora1289 There was a joke around Broadway at the time of Diller's casting that went, "Who's next, Liberace?"

[@johnpickford4222]

@@chrisn7259 No, that’s not correct. He demanded a certain number of ostrich feathers for his costumes and there weren’t enough without putting the species at risk of extinction so he declined and stayed in Vegas.

[@m.a.6136]

She's sings!