| Walking Happy | |
| Music: | Jimmy Van Heusen |
| Lyrics: | Sammy Cahn |
| Productions: | 1966 Broadway |
Walking Happy is a 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 1916 play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse. The musical was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
The production 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. Conductor Herbert Grossman served as Music Director.
The original cast recording was released by Angel Records in 1966.[1]
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 younger 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 Will 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.
| Character | Broadway (1966)[2] | |
|---|---|---|
| Maggie Hobson | Louise Troy | |
| Will Massop | Norman Wisdom | |
| Henry Horatio Hobson | George Rose | |
| Georgy Beenstock | Ed Bakey | |
| Tubby Wadlow | Gordon Dilworth | |
| Mrs. Hepworth | Emma Trekman | |
| Vickie Hobson | Gretchen Van Aken | |
| Alice Hobson | Sharon Dierking | |
| Albert Beenstock | James B. Spann | |
| Freddie Beenstock | Michael Berkson | |
| Mrs. Figgins | Lucille Benson | |
| Ada Figgins | Jane Laughlin |
The title song "Walking Happy" was originally meant to be used in the 1963 film Papa's Delicate Condition, with Jackie Gleason singing it, but it was dropped before the film's release.
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".[3]