Walking Happy
| Walking Happy | |
|---|---|
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| Music | Jimmy Van Heusen |
| Lyrics | Sammy Cahn |
| Book | Roger O. Hirson Ketti Frings |
| Basis | Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse |
| Productions | 1966 Broadway |
Walking Happy is a theater musical with music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by Roger O. Hirson and Ketti Frings. The story is based on the play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse. The show opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 26, 1966 and ran for 161 performances. Directed by Cy Feuer with choreography by Danny Daniels, the cast included George Rose as Henry Hobson, Norman Wisdom as Will Mossop, Louise Troy as Maggie Hobson, and Ed Bakey as George Beenstock.
The musical was nominated for 6 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
The Original cast recording was released by Angel Records in 1966. cast album database.
Plot synopsis
In Lancashire, England in 1880 the men of the town gather in the local pub, with much drinking. The widower Henry Hobson, owner of a boot shop, has three daughters, and he wishes them to marry. The local leader of the temperance league, George Beenstock, has two sons. The two youngest Hobson daughters flirt with the Beenstock sons, while Hobson tells his eldest daughter Maggie that her time has passed. Maggie decides to make a match with Will, a skilled shoemaker, even though Will is engaged to another. Will and Maggie establish their own boot shop. Meanwhile, Hobson's drinking continues, his young daughters try to take Maggie's place at his shop, and Wil and Maggie marry. Hobson and Beenstock settle on a dowry for the young ladies. Hobson realizes that he needs Maggie and Will, and they become partners.
Songs
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Critical response
Walter Kerr reviewed the musical for the New York Times. He wrote that the musical was "easygoing, unpretentious, minor-league...a light, slight, occasionally charming pastime." The "principal asset" is Norman Wisdom, a "zany original". ("New York Times", Walter Kerr, November 28, 1966, p.47)
Awards and nominations
- Nominations
- Tony Award Best Musical — Book by Ketti Frings, Roger O. Hirson; Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn; Produced by Cy Feuer, Ernest H. Martin
- Tony Award Best Composer and Lyricist — Lyrics by Sammy Cahn; Music by James Van Heusen
- Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical — Norman Wisdom
- Tony Award Best Actress in a Musical — Louise Troy
- Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical — Gordon Dilworth
- Tony Award Best Choreography — Danny Daniels