Dolly

Hello, Dolly! was a big hit on Broadway in the 1960s, shedding its light on the Great White Way alongside the likes of Mame, Funny Girl and Fiddler on the Roof. But while the latter three get trotted out regularly by theater companies, Dolly's appearances are less frequent. Jerry Herman's musical score, after all, is more modest than the others, and the show's dramatics less riveting. But the story of Dolly Levi, the irrepressible matchmaker who overcomes loneliness and loss to take New York by storm, is a charmer.

It couldn't have been a more appropriate role. Audrey Herman was playing the lead in a production of "Auntie Mame" when she decided to found the Spotlighters Theatre 37 years ago. Like Mame, she had an indomitable spirit and an ebullient sense of theatricality.Herman, 74 -- who died of cancer Saturday at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center -- also had a generosity toward newcomers in the theater that not only set her apart but helped launch careers. From the time the small St. Paul Street community theater opened its doors in October 1962, Herman adopted an open-door policy.

ROSLIN, Scotland -- If sheep could read the newspapers, Dolly, the queen of clones, might be jealous about now.Dolly is the ewe, you know, who was the first successful adult-mammal clone, born July 5, 1996. Since then, she's led the life of a star.But now comes the news this week that an anonymous millionaire is donating $2.3 million to researchers at Texas A&M University to find a way to clone his much-beloved pound dog, a 12-year-old border collie/husky mix named Missy.Will the Dolly spotlight fade?

Jeffrey Moss, 56, a co-founder of "Sesame Street" who helped create Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch and wrote the tunes "Rubber Duckie" and "I Love Trash," died Thursday of cancer in New York.He won 14 Emmy and four Grammy awards as head writer and composer-lyricist for the educational show. He also earned an Oscar nomination for his lyrics for "The Muppets Take Manhattan."Marc Harrison, 62, who helped simplify cooking with his work to redesign the Cuisinart food processor, died Tuesday in Providence, R.I., of Lou Gehrig's disease.

OFFERED THE chance last week to enact an outright ban on human cloning, the U.S. Senate wisely declined. Instead, it left the door open for potentially lifesaving research, while allowing debate to continue on a complicated issue.The appearance last year of a lamb named Dolly sparked new interest in an old question, this time with the prospect that scenarios regarded largely as science fiction could become reality.Even for a public long accustomed to "test-tube babies" and other miracles of reproductive technology, the success of Scottish scientists in producing a genetic replica of an adult sheep was amazing, and served to renew both fantasies and fears:Could I clone myself and outsmart mortality?

Memo to President Clinton: Forget the commission on cloning. What you really need is one on punning.Send in the clones. Send in the clone puns. In less than two weeks, Dolly, that DNA marvel of a sheep, has been the subject of more "Hello, Dolly" puns than the Dalai Lama has managed to accumulate in 20 years.According to a search of the major newspapers database maintained by Nexis, "Hello, Dolly" has appeared in print at least 50 times since Feb. 24. (And that didn't include the headline on Page 1 of yesterday's Washington Post, "Hello Dolly, Goodbye to One Man's Quiet Life."

It was an important week for science, but when all is said and done, a bigger week for sheep.All of a sudden, sheep are everywhere -- on radio, TV and the front page. Dolly, the first higher mammal clone, has become an instant celebrity, a shoo-in for Ricki Lake and "Nightline," and perhaps the cover of Newsweek.Maybe Dolly will become the next hot name instead of Chelsea. Maybe Dolly will land a role as Ross' pet sheep on "Friends," or a potato chip ad campaign with supermodels.Anything could happen.

Joanie Weston,62, a strapping power hitter who passed up a promising, respectable future in softball to become the gum-chewing, power-skating, hip-bumping golden girl of Roller Derby, died of a brain disorder May 10 at her home near San Francisco.Thelma Carpenter,77, whose long roller-coaster career as a singer took her to the heights with the big bands of the 1930s and 1940s, out of show business into years as a file clerk and back to the big-time on Broadway in the title role of "Hello, Dolly!

WASHINGTON -- Well, hello, Dolly. What are we to make of you, now that we have made you? And what are we to make of us?In Scotland, a sheep named Dolly has been manufactured -- literally, made by hand. Dolly is the result of the first cloning of an adult mammal. If one is now enough for multiplication, does this mean that there no longer is any endangered species? Or does it mean that humans are uniquely endangered?Dolly is genetically identical to the one parent -- if that is the right word -- from which it was cloned.

WASHINGTON -- It's really sheeplike, this world-wide reaction to news that an embryologist in Scotland has used DNA from a sheep cell to produce a woolly clone named Dolly.Some scientists worry that all our nursery rhymes will be rendered worthless by genetic manipulators who produce lambs with six legs and cows with three udders.Everybody is expressing horror that the sheep cloners will soon be cloning human beings, and that our own Jurassic Park will be teeming with replicas of Adolf Hitler, O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman or even Ronald Reagan.

Bowie Community Theatre is the first company to present Caroline Smith's "The Kitchen Witches" in our area. This Canadian play, which won the 2005 Samuel French Playwriting Award, is riding a mounting wave of culinary obsession fueled by the food network's constant stream of cooking shows and underscored by the success of the film "Julie and Julia." "The Kitchen Witches" adds generous dollops of comedy into the complex relationship of two mature cooking divas. Having once worked at a local television station where a live cooking show was produced, I found set designers Estelle Miller and Garrett Hyde to have created an authentic-looking, workable set where the chefs, cameraman and stagehand can function proficiently.

The drama in the elephant yard wasn't apparent to the moms and small children who strolled by to see baby Samson, the African elephant born 15 months ago at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. "Ooh, look! The baby's coming out! That's awesome," they exclaimed. But just across the heavy metal fences, Samson's keepers were carefully orchestrating an introduction - the first without barriers - between the sometimes rambunctious Samson with his mother, Felix, and the two other adult females in the zoo's herd, Dolly and Anna.

FAIR HILL - -Bridesmaid no more. Moon Dolly came into the $30,000 Valentine Memorial hurdle stakes, the feature at Saturday's annual Fair Hill Races, with four consecutive seconds in races in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Back home in Maryland, she halted the frustration with a game victory. Trained in Monkton by Tom Voss, the 8-year-old daughter of Kris S. challenged pacemaker Jellyberry in the deep stretch and prevailed by a head in 4 minutes, 15 3/5 seconds for the 2 1/4 miles.

No 'Hello, Aunt Dolly' in 'Hannah Montana,' Parton says she's out of movie Dolly Parton says she won't be in the coming Hannah Montana movie, despite word to the contrary on the Web. But Parton wishes she had been. The country legend says producers had asked her whether she would revisit her recurring role as Aunt Dolly from the TV show in the film. But her character apparently didn't make the script. Still, Parton says she loved playing the role on the TV show because it opened her up to a new generation of fans.

It's a mark of what goes wrong with Center Stage's production of The Matchmaker that the show's two indelible performances are delivered by actors playing minor roles. Pamela Payton-Wright, as Flora, an addled, aging romantic, and Lawrence O'Dwyer, as the philosopher-rogue Malachi, deliver a master class in acting. Each word seemingly erupts from their hearts and brains. When Payton-Wright carries a teacup across the room, she holds it in front of her as if it were a fragrant bouquet. O'Dwyer even staggers drunkenly in character.

Dolly Schaefer died September 8, 2008. Mother to five children and Grandolly to eight grandchildren. Dolly's family would like to thank her care-givers and special friends for their devotion during her extended illness. There will be no services. Arrangements by Beachwood Society. Donations to Shelter for Abused Women or Avow Hospice of Naples, Florida.

One of 2 prison escapees recaptured on Shore Authorities yesterday captured one of two inmates who walked away from an Eastern Shore correctional facility Wednesday evening. The second escapee was still at large yesterday evening. James Allen Cramer, 52, was arrested about 3 p.m. by the Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Office at an undisclosed location. Authorities said an anonymous tipster aided police in Cramer's apprehension. Police were still searching for Billy Gene Dolly, 41. He was described as a white male, 5-foot-6 and 160 pounds.

On May 6, 2008, LOUIS DAVID ROBINSON, beloved husband of Dolly Robinson. On Thursday, friends may call Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Services (East), 4905 York Road, where the family will receive friends from 4-8 P.M. On Friday, services will be held at Israel Baptist Church, 1220 N. Chester Street, where the family will receive friends 10:30-11 A.M., with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 433-7500.

On Friday, August 17, 2007, DOLLY T. of Denton, beloved wife of Charles V. Moore, beloved mother of Victoria Ann Moore of Charlottsville, VA. and Randolph P. Moore and his wife Kathie of Denton. Also survived by four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She was predeceased by two brothers Woodrow P. Taylor and Warrin Nelson Taylor and three sisters Lorlynne E. Coffman, Lucinda Taylor and Ruby A. Taylor. Funeral Services will be 11 A.M. Tuesday, August 21st at the Moore Funeral Home, P.A., 12 S. 2nd St. in Denton where friends may call 1 hours before the service.

Suddenly, on August 6, 2007 AGNES "DOLLY' DOBRZYCKI (nee Allgeier); devoted mother of Lisa M. Schilling and her husband Joseph and Stanley Dobrzycki, Jr.; dear grandmother of Alex Robert and Ryan Joseph Schilling; loving sister of Leona Murray, Lorraine Allgeier, Albert Allgeier and his wife Toni, Lillian Sawyer, Joseph Giza and the late Frank Giza, Jr. She is also survived by many loving relatives and friends. Visitation at Kaczorowski Funeral Home, P.A., 1201 Dundalk Avenue, on Wednesday and Thursday from 3-5 and 7-9. Funeral Service on Thursday evening at 8:00 p.m. Interment private.