''Happy Hunting'' is a 1956
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
with a book by
Howard Lindsay
Howard Lindsay, born Herman Nelke, (March 29, 1889 – February 11, 1968) was an American playwright, librettist, director, actor and theatrical producer. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse ...
and
Russel Crouse
Russel Crouse (20 February 1893 – 3 April 1966) was an American playwright and librettist, best known for his work in the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse.
Life and career
Born in Findlay, Ohio, Crouse was the son of Sarah (n ...
, lyrics by Matt Dubey, music by Harold Karr, original choreography by
Alex Romero, assistant choreographer
Eugene Louis Faccuito (Luigi) . The plot focuses on wealthy
Philadelphia Main Line
The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and Social class in the United States, social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's onc ...
widow Liz Livingstone and her efforts to find a royal husband for her daughter Beth.
Plot
Liz Livingstone and her daughter Beth arrive in
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
to attend the wedding of
Prince Rainier and fellow
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
n
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...
, only to be denied admission when her name cannot be found on the guest list. To save face, Liz pretends her hotel suite was robbed and she had nothing suitable to wear to the ceremony.
Angered by the snub and determined to find her daughter an even better husband than Grace, Liz arranges a date for Beth and the Duke of Grenada, unaware that the hotel's financial problems, which are being investigated by her attorney Sandy Stewart, are due in no small part to the Duke's failure to pay his bills. When she is made aware of the situation, Liz offers to settle his account and move him, his assistant Arturo, and his prized horses to Philadelphia if he will marry Beth, and he agrees to accept her offer.
Back in the States, complications arise when Liz finds herself falling in love with the Duke while Beth finds she is attracted to Sandy. Everything is resolved when Beth and Sandy elope and the Duke agrees to marry Liz, who realizes he loves her for her money but is willing to accept him on those terms.
Background
After marrying her third husband,
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Continen ...
executive
Robert Six
Robert Forman Six (June 25, 1907 – October 6, 1986) was an American businessman who was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1936 to 1980. Beginning his career in the early days of commercial aviation in the United States, he became the CEO o ...
, in 1953,
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...
retired from performing and happily embraced the life of a
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
housewife. Six, however, had expected her public appearances to engender publicity for the airline, and her decision to forego the limelight did not sit well with him. He urged her to accept the lead in ''Happy Hunting'', with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse (who had written ''
Call Me Madam
''Call Me Madam'' is a Broadway musical written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.
The musical is a satire on politics and foreign policy that spoofs postwar America's penchant for lending billions ...
'') and a score by the unknown team of Harold Karr and Matt Dubey. Merman thought the songs were weak but grudgingly acquiesced to her husband's demands.
[Kellow, Brian, ''Ethel Merman: A Life''. New York: Viking Press 2007. , pp. 160-169]
Initially Merman was pleased with co-star
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos (January 9, 1915 – October 8, 1982) was an Argentine-American actor and director of the Golden Age of Argentine cinema. He is the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.
Biography Argentina
Fernando Álvaro Lamas y ...
, but soon after rehearsals began they clashed when he publicly criticized her performance, and as tensions between them escalated they stopped speaking to each other. Lamas was certain he would be overshadowed by Merman and plotted to draw the focus away from her. Known throughout Hollywood for his unusually large physical endowment, he instructed costume designer
Irene Sharaff to cut his pants so they would cling as tightly as possible. On opening night in Philadelphia during the pre-
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
tryout, his appearance elicited loud gasps from the audience when he stepped out on stage for the first time. Merman was not amused by the vulgar display and demanded his costume be altered.
Throughout the tryout period, Merman expressed her dissatisfaction with both the book and the score, both of which underwent revisions on a regular basis. After the show opened on Broadway, she insisted two of her least favorite numbers be replaced by songs written by her friend
Roger Edens
Roger Edens (November 9, 1905 – July 13, 1970) was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "gold ...
who, due to his exclusive contract with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
, credited them to
Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson (born Catherine Louise Fink; November 9, 1909''"In the St. Louis Registry of Births, in the volume covering the period July 1909 – January 1910, on page 85, is the following entry: "Catherine Louise Fink, November 9, 1909."'' .
Production
Directed by
Abe Burrows
Abe Burrows (born Abram Solman Borowitz; December 18, 1910 – May 17, 1985) was an American writer, composer, humorist, director for radio and the stage, and librettist for Broadway musicals. His versatile career in radio, Broadway, and televis ...
, with musical staging by Alex Romero and Bob Herget, the Broadway production opened with an advance sale of $1.5 million
[''Time'' review]
/ref> on December 6, 1956 at the Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to:
Australia
* Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished
*Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed by ...
, where it ran for 412 performances. It closed on November 30, 1957, with Merman happy to see what she considered "a dreary obligation" finally come to an end.Virginia Gibson
Virginia Gibson (born Virginia Gorski; April 9, 1925 – April 25, 2013) was an American dancer, singer and actress of film, television and musical theater.
Early years
Gibson was born on April 9, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was of Po ...
as Beth Livingstone, Gordon Polk as Sandy Stewart, Leon Belasco as Arturo, and Estelle Parsons
Estelle Parsons (born November 20, 1927) is an American actress.
After studying law, Parsons became a singer before deciding to pursue a career in acting. She worked for the television program '' Today'' and made her stage debut in 1961. Durin ...
in her Broadway debut. Jo Mielziner
Joseph Mielziner (March 19, 1901 – March 15, 1976) was an American theatrical scenic, and lighting designer born in Paris, France. He was described as "the most successful set designer of the Golden era of Broadway", and worked on both stage p ...
was responsible for the scenic and lighting design.
Critical reception
Although Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...
of the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' thought the score was "hardly more than adequate," he called Merman "as brassy as ever, glowing like a neon light whenever she steps on the stage."Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' thought Merman "consistently converts vulgarity into fun" but called her triumph "a minor one, what with a book that has at best a routine brightness, and a score that sometimes lacks lilt even where it seems reminiscent."
Nominations
Ethel Merman was nominated for the but lost to Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian, and singer.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71.
She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Bro ...
in '' Bells Are Ringing''. Fernando Lamas was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Musical ...
but lost to Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French W ...
in ''My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...
''. Virginia Gibson was nominated for the but lost to Edith Adams in ''Li'l Abner
''Li'l Abner'' was a satirical American comic strip that appeared in multiple newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies living in the impoverished fictional mountain village of Dogpatch, ...
''. Irene Sharaff was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design
These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals. In 1961, and since 2005 the category was divided into Costume Design in a Play and Costu ...
but lost to Cecil Beaton
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as costume designer and set designer for stage and screen. His accolades ...
for ''My Fair Lady''.
Song list
;Act I
*"Postage Stamp-Principality" - Tourists and Monegasques
*"Don't Tell Me" - Sandy and Beth Livingstone
*"It's Good to Be Here" - Liz Livingstone and Reporters
*" Mutual Admiration Society" - Liz and Beth Livingstone
*"For Love or Money" - The Girls
*"Bikini Dance" - Beth Livingstone
*"It's Like a Beautiful Woman" - Duke of Granada
*"Wedding-of-the-Year Blues" - Maud Foley, Harry Watson, Jack Adams, Reporters, and Photographers
*"Mr. Livingstone" - Liz Livingstone
*"If'n" - Beth Livingstone, Sandy, and Passengers
*"This Is What I Call Love" - Liz Livingstone
;Act II
*"A New-Fangled Tango" - Liz and Beth Livingstone, Arturo, and Guests
*"She's Just Another Girl" - Sandy
*"The Game of Love" - Liz Livingstone
*"Happy Hunting" - Liz Livingstone, Duke of Granada, and Members of the Hunt
*"I'm a Funny Dame" - Liz Livingstone
*"This Much I Know" - Duke of Granada
*"Just Another Guy" - Liz Livingstone
*"Everyone Who's "Who's Who" - Jack Adams, Harry Watson, and Footmen
*"Mutual Admiration Society (Reprise)" - Liz Livingstone and Duke of Granada
References
External links
*
''Happy Hunting'' at the Guide to Musical Theatre
''Happy Hunting''
at the Music Theatre International website
{{Lindsay and Crouse
1956 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Lindsay and Crouse
Musicals set in Monaco
Musicals set in the 1950s