Barbara Van Orden, Anne Jeffreys, Carol Channing and Ruta Lee Photo

From: Photo Flash: Carol Channing Visits the Pantages Theatre

On January 16, 1964 theatergoers at the St. James Theatre first experienced what was to become perhaps the most memorable scene in musical comedy, when the curtains part atop the stairs of the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant and Dolly Levi appears in her red Freddy Wittop gown to begin her descent to 'rejoin the human race.' Forty-seven years (not to mention over 5,000 performances) later and 3,000 miles away, patrons of the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles were able to revisit a little bit of theatrical history as Jerry Herman's first Dolly, Ms. Carol Channing, again entered through parting red curtains and took the stage wearing her original 1964 gown in celebration of her 90th birthday.