Hellzapoppin' (musical)

Infobox Musical
name= Hellzapoppin'
subtitle=


caption= Original Broadway window card
music= Sammy Fain
Charles Tobias
lyrics= Sammy Fain
Charles Tobias
book= Harold "Chic" Johnson
John "Ole" Olsen
basis=
productions= 1938 Broadway
1941 Film
awards=

"Hellzapoppin"' is a musical revue which was a Broadway hit, running from 22 September 1938 to 17 December 1941, and was at the time the longest-running Broadway musical with 1,404 performances — one of only three plays to run more than 500 performances in the 1930s.Fact|date=September 2008

A comedy hodgepodge full of sight gags and slapstick, the show was continually rewritten throughout its run to remain topical (its opening scene was Hitler speaking in a Yiddish accent). A circus atmosphere prevailed, with dwarfs, clowns, trained pigeons and audience participation adding to the merriment. The book was by Olsen and Johnson, a comedy team consisting of John "Ole" Olsen and Harold "Chic" Johnson.

Olsen and Johnson led a large cast of entertainers: Billy Adams; the Hawaiian music of Ray Kinney and the Aloha Maids; the comedy team Barto & Mann (Dewey Barto and George Mann); Bergh and Moore; singing group The Charioteers; identical-twin dancers Bettymae and Beverly Crane; Walter Nilsson; J. C. Olsen; stage magician Hardeen (better known was Houdini's younger brother); celebrity impersonators The Radio Rogues; Reed, Dean and Reed (Bonnie Reed, Syd Dean, and Mel Reed); Roberta and Ray; Hal Sherman, The Starlings, Dorothy Thomas, Shirley Wayne; June Winters; and Whitey's Steppers (also known as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers).

The songs (decidedly less a factor for the show's success than its comedy), included:
*"Blow a Balloon Up to the Moon"
*"Fuddle-Dee-Duddle"
*"It's Time To Say Aloha"
*"When McGregor Sings Off Key"
*"Boomps-a-Daisy (I Like a Bustle that Bends)"
*"We Won't Let It Happen Here"
*"When You Look in Your Looking Glass"

Songs and lyrics featured during the run include work by Sammy Fain and Charles Tobias, Don George, Teddy Hall, Annette Mills, Gonzalo Curiel, and Oscar Hammerstein II.

The show opened at the original 46th Street Theatre, and moved later in its run to the Winter Garden Theatre and the Majestic Theatre, and spawned several successful sequels. During the late 1940s, the show went on the road, appearing in smaller towns throughout the US. Its format was reduced in size, but continued in the same style of sight gags, risque humor, and audience involvement.

The television show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" (1968-1973) was an attempt to replicate the fast-paced, anything-can-happen atmosphere for a new generation.

External links

*
* [http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/hellzapoppin.html Hellzapoppin'] Illustrated article on the Collecting Books and Magazines website
*http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/d5hlzply.htm
*http://www.musicals101.com/1930bway3.htm