{"id":38537,"date":"2023-01-13T18:56:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T23:56:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=38537"},"modified":"2023-01-13T18:56:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T23:56:39","slug":"the-bootleg-files-the-tv-cubana-version-of-hello-dolly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/13\/the-bootleg-files-the-tv-cubana-version-of-hello-dolly\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: The TV Cubana Version of “Hello, Dolly!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 825: <\/strong>The TV Cubana Version of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d (1985 Cuban television recording of the Havana theatrical staging of the Broadway musical). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.
\n
\nAMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: <\/strong>Rights clearance issues and a perceived lack of commercial viability.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Nope.<\/p>\n

One of the most polarizing films ever made was, oddly, the 1969 musical \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d This is not a film that inspires indifference \u2013 either you embrace as a grand, old-school screen musical with Barbra Streisand giving one of her best performances or you condemn it as an over-produced mess burdened by a star who was much too young for her role. And if you should ever stumble over a Facebook forum debate on the film\u2019s merits and deficiencies, prepare yourself for one of the most rancorous discussions on social media \u2013 trust me, I\u2019ve been audience to several of them!
\n<\/p>\n

Personally, I would have imagined that \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d would be a prime candidate for one of those live musical productions that the U.S. television broadcast networks occasionally stage. After all, if we can have made-for-TV versions of \u201cThe Sound of Music,\u201d \u201cGrease,\u201d \u201cThe Wiz\u201d and \u201cRent,\u201d then \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d should be a shoo-in for the small screen treatment.<\/p>\n

But while the U.S. networks refrained from making their own version of this musical comedy classic, there was an under-the-radar made-for-TV version of the show. Indeed, this production took the concept of \u201cunder-the-radar\u201d to a new level: TV Cubana, a Cuban network, presented a recorded version of the 1985 Teatro Karl Marx de Habana production of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d Indeed, the Havana-based production is so obscure that it is not included in the \u201cCall On Dolly!\u201d website that offers a comprehensive overview of the many stage versions of this show.<\/p>\n

Whether TV Cubana network had permission from the rights owners of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d to do a broadcast version of the property is unclear \u2013 I am doubtful, though I would welcome clarification from any reader who might have more insight on this production than I possess. <\/p>\n

The Dolly for this production was Rosita Forn\u00e9s, a New York City-born entertainer who was active in Cuba before and after the Castro revolution. Forn\u00e9s was 62 years old when she played Dolly at the Teatro Karl Marx, which is Havana\u2019s biggest theater, and then played the role again at El Teatro Principal in the Cuban city of Camag\u00fcey. Since Broadway musicals were rarely staged in Cuba during the 1980s, \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d was a major cultural event back in its time \u2013 and Forn\u00e9s played the part as if it was a role of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

However, this production seems to be heavily influenced by the 1969 film, which differs in certain aspects from the stage show. In this Cuban version, the show opens with \u201cJust Leave Everything to Me,\u201d the song that opens the film, rather than \u201cI Put My Hand In,\u201d the opening number for the stage show. The Cuban production also stages \u201cIt Only Takes a Moment\u201d in an outdoor setting rather than in the stage show\u2019s courtroom environment, and the stage \u201cThe Motherhood March\u201d that was omitted from the film is also omitted here; the video uploaded to YouTube is missing \u201cBefore the Parade Passes By,\u201d which I assume was an error by the person sharing the recording.<\/p>\n

Plus, Forn\u00e9s\u2019 performance of the title song borrows more than a little from Streisand\u2019s vocalizing riffs. To her credit, Forn\u00e9s eschews the stage version\u2019s red gown and the film\u2019s gold gown for Dolly\u2019s entrance at the Harmonium Gardens in favor of a frilly black gown \u2013 yes, she is the sexiest black-clad widow in the Caribbean\u2019s version of 1890s New York City.<\/p>\n

For the most part, this \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d \u2013 which is identified in the opening credits as \u201cHello Dolly\u201d \u2013 comes across as a pleasant but low-rent production, not unlike something that you would see in a small regional theater. Painted backdrops are used in lieu of elaborate sets, the choreography is spry but not elaborate, and the performances come with a surplus amount of sincerity and goodwill \u2013 particularly the diminutive Jorge Luis Espinosa as Barnaby, who allows himself to be carried around and even slapped on the rear by Omar Valdes\u2019 Horace Vandergelder. And the train taking the cast to New York at the end of \u201cPut on Your Sunday Clothes\u201d is a cleverly designed large and fanciful cardboard train with a billowing white puff coming from its smokestack. <\/p>\n

For the video production, I get the impression that the songs were pre-recorded and lip-synced \u2013 the sound has a recording studio quality and not a live presentation quality. The production was also done without a live audience in attendance, hence the show\u2019s musical numbers and humor are delivered to silent response.<\/p>\n

As for Forn\u00e9s, she is sexy and funny as the scheming Dolly. It is a shame she is mostly unknown to Anglophonic audiences, as she was a remarkable talent.<\/p>\n

The Cuban \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d can be seen in a two-part upload to YouTube. It is not subtitled, but Yanquis who don\u2019t speak Spanish yet know the show will have no trouble following along.<\/p>\n