All tagged Hazel Flagg

Remembering Hazel Flagg

Helen Gallagher is an actress who came very close to being one of Broadway musicals’ biggest stars, on a par with Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, or Gwen Verdon. Always one of the standout supporting players in such musicals as High Button Shoes, Make A Wish, and Pal Joey, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. It was inevitable that she would ultimately land a starring role in a Broadway musical that would launch her career into the stratosphere where it belonged. That vehicle, for all intents and purposes, should have been the 1953 musical Hazel Flagg wherein Gallagher played the title character.

Broadway Blip: Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher was a mainstay of the Broadway musical throughout 50s, 60s, and 70s. A celebrated supporting player with a delicious comedic timing and a radiant personality, she never seemed to find that vehicle that would elevate her to star status. Gallagher won Tony Awards for Supporting Actress for her appearances as Gladys Bumps in the 1952 revival of Pal Joeyand for Best Actress for her turn in the 1971 revival of No, No, Nanette.

No “Best Musical” Tony Award – To Think!

The Tony Awards are an important part of the Broadway season, not so much because people need to be rewarded for doing what is already an amazing job, but because the people who wend their way through the challenges, heartbreak and exhaustion of show business deserve a time of the year to celebrate what they do. God knows if the theatre community doesn’t revel in their own achievements, who else is going to? Ring your own bell! Our country is so caught up in the goings on of athletic events that theatre will never be a priority to anyone other than those create it. That’s what makes us special, isn’t it?