Whoopee

Eddie Cantor was an eye-popping, bouncing comedian who had appeared in five Ziegfeld Follies before starring in this lavish Ziegfeld book musical. In the story, adapted from the 1923 play The Nervous Wreck, hypochondriac Henry Williams, in California for his health, becomes unwittingly involved with the daughter of a ranch owner whom he helps escape from marryin the local sheriff. After comic adventures that involve hiding out on an Indian reservation and Henry (in black-face) posing as a singing waiter, the girl is reunited with her true love, an Indian halfbreed who turns out to be white. The score, written by pop songwriters Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn, produced two hits, “Love Me or Leave Me” and the Cantor specialty, “Makin’ Whoopee.” During the show’s run, Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra replaced George Olsen’s for two months. A Broadway revival in 1979, originally presented at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, ran 204 performances. Eddie Cantor also starred in the 1930 film version.

Music

Walter Donaldson

Lyrics

Gus Kahn

Book

William Anthony McGuire