| Hooray for What! | |
|---|---|
| Music | Harold Arlen |
| Lyrics | E. Y. Harburg |
| Book | Howard Lindsay andRussel Crouse |
| Productions | 1937Broadway |
Hooray for What! is ananti-war[1]musical with music byHarold Arlen, lyrics byE. Y. Harburg and a book byHoward Lindsay andRussel Crouse.[2][3] It introduced the song "Down With Love".
The originalBroadway production opened at theWinter Garden Theatre on December 1, 1937, and ran for 200 performances.[2] Directors wereVincente Minnelli andHoward Lindsay, and choreographers wereRobert Alton andAgnes de Mille (her first Broadway choreography). The cast featuredEd Wynn as Chuckles,Jack Whiting as Breezy Cunningham, Paul Haakon (Principal Dancer),June Clyde as Annabel Lewis (replacingHannah Williams),[4]Vivian Vance as Stephanie Stephanovich (replacingKay Thompson),Hugh Martin (Singing Ensemble),Ralph Blane as A Spy, andMeg Mundy (Singing Ensemble). Martin also did the vocal arrangements.Life magazine called it "the funniest show of the year."[5]
42nd Street Moon Theatre Company, San Francisco, California, presented the musical in a staged concert, in November 2004.[1]
It was presented by "The Medicine Show", New York City, in 2008.[6]
In Sprinkle,Indiana, Chuckles, a chemist, accidentally discovers a poisonous gas that could dominate the world. Breezy Cunningham is a weapons manufacturer, and tries to get the formula; when Chuckles refuses, Breezy hires the famous and alluring spy Stephanie Stephanovich to tempt it from Chuckles. Chuckles does not give in to Stephanie's wiles but goes to the League of Nations Peace Conference inGeneva to try to sell his discovery, which has somehow turned into a "love" potion. Meanwhile, Breezy, Stephanie, and their cohorts try to obtain the formula for the poisonous gas.
Note: One song cut from the final production, "I'm Hanging On to You", was later re-written with new lyrics to become "If I Only Had a Brain/a Heart/the Nerve" for a future Arlen-Harburg collaboration, the 1939 film adaptation ofThe Wizard of Oz. "Napoleon's a Pastry" provided the title for a completely different song in another Arlen-Harburg musical, 1957'sJamaica where it was sung byLena Horne. The original song resurfaced in the42nd Street Moon production ofHooray for What!