View source for Whoopee!

{{Short description|1928 musical comedy}}
{{Other uses|Whoopee (disambiguation){{!}}Whoopee}}

{{Infobox Musical
| name = Whoopee!
| subtitle = 
| image = Whoopee musical revival poster.jpg
| image_size = 150px
| caption = {{plainlist|
*Poster for the 1979 Broadway revival.
*Illustration by [[Hilary Knight (illustrator)|Hilary Knight]]
}}
| music = [[Walter Donaldson (songwriter)|Walter Donaldson]]
| lyrics = [[Gus Kahn]]
| book = [[William Anthony McGuire]]
| basis = [[Owen Davis]]'s play <br> ''[[The Nervous Wreck]]''
| productions = 1928 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] <br> 1979 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[revival (theatre)|revival]]
<!-- Please do not include production-specific (acting, directing, etc.) awards -->| awards = 
}}
'''''Whoopee!''''' is a 1928 [[musical theatre|musical comedy]] play with a [[Book (musical theater)|book]] based on Owen Davis's play, ''The Nervous Wreck.'' The musical libretto was written by William Anthony McGuire, with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Gus Kahn. The musical premiered on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1928, starring [[Eddie Cantor]], and introduced the hit song "[[Love Me or Leave Me (Donaldson and Kahn song)|Love Me or Leave Me]]", sung by [[Ruth Etting]].<ref>{{cite web |title=''Whoopee!'' information |url=http://www.ruthetting.com/broadway/whoopee.asp |website=ruthetting.com |access-date=August 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203142235/http://www.ruthetting.com/broadway/whoopee.asp |archive-date=December 3, 2009}}</ref> A [[Whoopee! (film)|film version]] opened in [[1930 in film|1930]].

==Synopsis==
'''Setting:''' Mission Rest, [[Arizona]]; Black Top Canyon; The Bar "M" Ranch; the Wilderness; the Desert.

Sheriff Bob Wells and the daughter of a rancher Sally Morgan are getting married. She is in love with Wanenis, whose part-Indian heritage presents social difficulties for their romance. Sally abandons Sheriff Bob and their wedding, catching a ride with Henry Williams. As a [[hypochondriac]], Henry has problems of his own, but Sally adds to his problems when she leaves a note saying they have eloped. A chase ensues, with the jilted Bob; Mary, Henry's nurse who is in love with him; and a cast of others. Along the way they arrive at the Indian Reservation where Wanenis lives.  The movie star Leslie Daw enters the proceedings and sings the [[Torch song|torchy]], sentimental "Love Me, or Leave Me".<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Stanley |author-link=Stanley Green (historian)|title=Hollywood Musicals Year by Year |date=1999 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=0-634-00765-3 |page=14 |edition=2nd}}</ref>

==Songs==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;Act I
* "It's a Beautiful Day Today"
* "Here's to the Girl of My Heart"
* "Red, Red Rose"
* "Gypsy Joe"
* "[[Makin' Whoopee]]"
* "Until You Get Somebody Else"
* "Taps"
* "Come West, Little Girl, Come West"
* "The Movietone of the Gypsy Song"
* "Stetson"
{{col-break}}
;Act II
* "The Song of the Setting Sun"
* "Love Is the Mountain"
* "Red Mamma"
* "[[Love Me or Leave Me (Donaldson and Kahn song)|Love Me or Leave Me]]"
* "Hallowe'en Whoopee Ball"
{{col-end}}

==Productions==
[[File:Whoopee!_in_Motion_Picture_News_(December_7,_1929)_(cropped).jpg|alt=Whoopee! in Motion Picture News (December 7, 1929) (cropped)|left|thumb|275x275px|A scene as depicted in [[Motion Picture News]]]]
''Whoopee!'' opened on Broadway at the [[New Amsterdam Theatre]] on December 4, 1928, and closed on November 23, 1929, after 407 performances. It was produced by [[Florenz Ziegfeld]], directed by [[Seymour Felix]], dialogue staged by [[William Anthony McGuire]], and dances and ensembles staged by Seymour Felix. The musical starred [[Eddie Cantor]] as Henry Williams, Ruth Etting as Leslie Daw, [[Frances Upton]] as Sally Morgan, Jack Rutherford as Bob Wells, Paul Gregory as Wanenis and [[Ethel Shutta]] as Mary (replacing [[Ruby Keeler]]), and featured [[Buddy Ebsen]] and [[Paulette Goddard]] in the chorus.  George Olsen (Ethel Shutta's husband) and His Orchestra provided the music for both the stage production and the movie.

Donald J. Stubblebine reports, "It was still going strong after six months but [[Sam Goldwyn]], who bought the rights, closed it down to make the movie with Cantor."<ref>Donald J. Stubblebine, ''Broadway Sheet Music'', McFarland & Company, 1996, p. 302.</ref> ''[[Whoopee! (film)|Whoopee!]]'' was filmed in [[1930 in film|1930]] as a [[musical comedy]] [[film]]. Although the plot followed the stage version closely, much of the music was changed.

=== 1979 Revival ===
A revival, based on a [[Goodspeed Opera House]] production, was presented at the [[ANTA Playhouse]] from February 14, 1979, to August 12, 1979, for 204 performances and 8 previews. Directed by [[Frank Corsaro]] with choreography by Dan Siretta, the cast featured [[Charles Repole]] (Henry Williams) Beth Austin (Sally Morgan),  Carol Swarbrick (Mary) and [[Susan Stroman]] (Leslie Daw). This revival added Kahn/Donaldson songs not in the original 1928 show: [[My Baby Just Cares for Me|"My Baby Just Cares For Me"]] (from the 1930 film version), [[Yes Sir, That's My Baby (song)|"Yes, Sir, That's My Baby"]], and "You" (lyrics by [[Harold Adamson]]). Also, "Love Me or Leave Me" is sung by Mary and Henry rather than the essentially unrelated Leslie.

==Response==
[[Brooks Atkinson]], the theatre critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', reviewed the 1928 Broadway production and called it "a gorgeous spectacle" with "long stretches of excellent comedy". He especially praised the comedic abilities of Eddie Cantor, "a comedian of deftness and appealing humor. He is sad; he is preoccupied; he is apprehensive or insinuating with those floating eyes...In the past he has been funny, clever and ludicrious. But he has never been so enjoyable." As to the music, "Walter Donaldson has composed an appropriate score worthy of better singing than it falls heir to."<ref>{{cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Brooks |title=THE PLAY; Players' Cooperative Started. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/12/05/archives/the-play-players-cooperative-started.html |access-date=April 3, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=December 5, 1928 |page=L40}}</ref>

The ''[[New York Times]]'' critic Richard Eder called the 1979 Broadway revival a "frequent delight though not an unmitigated one...Most strikingly, it is a superabundance of songs. There is not a poor song in it, and its best ones — the lovely and musically witty "Makin' Whoopee", the jiggly "My Baby Just Cares for Me", and of course the irresistible "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" — are magnificent."<ref>{{cite news |last=Eder |first=Richard |title=Stage: 'Whoopee!', Revival of 1928 Musical |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/15/archives/stage-whoopee-revival-of-1928-musical-burlesque-wild-west.html |access-date=April 3, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=February 15, 1979 |page=C15}}</ref> [[Walter Kerr]], then the Times' Sunday critic, also reacted favorably to the show while calling attention to its nonsensical frivolity: he deemed it "light as a breeze, and just plain out of its head." [[Brendan Gill]] of [[The New Yorker]], however, panned the show.

Repole received a nomination for [[Drama Desk Award]], [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical|Outstanding Actor in a Musical]], and Dan Siretta was nominated for the [[Tony Award for Best Choreography]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{ibdb show|id=9350|title=Whoopee!}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q2567265|id=tt0021549|title=Whoopee!}} (1930 film adaptation)

[[Category:1928 musicals]]
[[Category:Broadway musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals based on plays]]
[[Category:Musicals set in Arizona]]
[[Category:Musicals set in deserts]]
[[Category:Musicals by Gus Khan]]