Whoop-Up: Thoughts?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 5:59pm

So I just discovered this show via Spotify. I kind of love it. But it only ran for like 50 performances or something like that. Anyone see it? Was it terrible? Racist? Would it be a good fit for Encores?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:04pm

I'm so glad you love Whoop-Up, RippedMan! It's one of my favorite flop cast recordings and Susan Johnson is a riot and a half. The songs are campy, ridiculous, tuneful, unbelievable and as entertaining as you could hope for.

Sadly the show is too out there for Encores to do, but Opening Doors put on a production of it 5 or 6 years ago.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:06pm

I think that's the production I saw on video, Whizzer. I love the show and it's one I've always wanted Encores to tackle. I doubt they ever will, though.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:12pm

So many great songs and the story line sounds interesting at least. I mean, when have Native Americans gotten any love in musical theater?

[IronMan]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:13pm

I could listen to Susan Johnson belt out "Men" repeatedly and still lol and wonder at those steel pipes...

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:17pm

If you can find someone on this board who actually saw the 1958 Broadway production of WHOOP-UP!, good luck! I think it was one of the most infamous bombs of its day. I'm with you though, I think much of the cast recording is fun, especially the numbers performed by the sublime Susan Johnson, and camp affairs like “Nobody Throw Those Bull.”

The Original Broadway Cast recording on M-G-M was one of those very rare LP that used fetch big money in the specialty record stores. When CDs first started being issued in the mid-1980s, oddly enough WHOOP-UP! was one of the first cast LPs released in that format (soon to go out of print). That's when I grabbed it. That release also included oodles of bonus tracks – pop versions of songs from the score. My big favorite of the lot is “Love Eyes” sung by Connie Francis. To me, it sounds like the ultimate ode from a “lipstick lesbian” to a butch dyke.

Don't hold your breath for Encores to take on WHOOP-UP!

Updated On: 3/23/13 at 06:17 PM

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:20pm

The souvenir program

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:21pm

The OCR was for many years next to imposssible to find. Colony records had a rather beat up copy in their rack and even that was priced at $65!

Larry Lash at Polydor saw to it we got a decent CD remastering packed with bonus tracks from various WHOOP-UP cover albums. His liner notes are even funnier than the musical. Sadly the Polydor issue did not stay in print for long (to be fair, it is a title few have even heard of) and now it is back on PD labels from the U.K.

It's a fun score and Moose Charlop (of PETER PAN fame) was a more talented composer than he is often given credit for. Too bad he didn't write more.

[JayG 2]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:23pm

Hey Love Eyes
I Mean You
You in Those Levis

They don't write 'em like that anymore.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:23pm

In God We Trust- Everyone else pays cash!

"Men" is hysterical. Almost every number is though.

Nobody throw those bull
Like my boy big Joe
Throw those bull at New York rodeo...
Un Deux Trois Quatre seconds flat
He throw those bull just like that!

Mohawk, Indian Carpets,
Good luck Indian pennies,
Cleveland Indian outfield, Indian coin
That old Indian summer, ooh-ooh-Indian-love-call,
Downtown Indian-apolis, Eskimo Pie...
Anthony Quinn: I think he's an Indian!

The lyrics are too much to be believed.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:34pm

I've never suggested such a change as this for any show before, but perhaps if Glenda's Place became a 1950s gay bar, the show might work. The line down the center of the bar could maybe serve to separate the girls' from the boys' territories.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:49pm

"My big favorite of the lot is “Love Eyes” sung by Commie Francis."

Did her career end during Perestroika?

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 6:54pm

VERY FUNNY! Thanks for bring that to my attention. I've corrected. Keep an eye on me... I am the WORST typist!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 9:16pm

I was working for Tower when the CD came out. People had frequently asked for it and I know the LP was selling (used) for big dollars. We ordered a few dozen and I think we sold 2. When you couldn't get it, everyone wanted it, when it was $13.99 and we had a pile, no one cared. It taught me a lot about show queens.


I love the album.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 9:19pm

Yes, young Joe, there's so much to learn about us. Ours is a most complex and cryptic culture.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 3/23/13 at 10:51pm

favorite lyric:

"Your lips are wet
And waiting for my smear -
Hey Love Eyes -
Come here!"

And don't forget the film version (no, not of the Broadway musical, but based on the same source) STAY AWAY JOE - starring Elvis Presley.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 12:07am

I love "what I meant to say!" I think I'm going to start singing it for auditions.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 11:13am

I've had the recording forever (first on vinyl, then CD), and any show that featured Susan Johnson in the lead can't be all bad. Has anyone ever heard her "live" solo album? She was amazing.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 11:24am

Any other "flops" I should check out? I have Spotify, which is awesome. But I wish it had like "suggested" albums and stuff. I'm not sure what to look up.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 11:31am

If you want something like Whoop-Up check out I Had a Ball. It's more legit, but has the only woman who could revival Susan Johnson in brilliance and flopiness: Karen Morrow.

Darling of the Day is very legit (save a camp number called "Panache"), but it's funny and tuneful. Plus Routledge won a Tony for her role and you can instantly hear why on the OBCR.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 11:45am

oh lordy! here comes the tsunami of show titles...

Whizzer beat me to I HAD A BALL, but I will add:
THE GRASS HARP (especially if you like Karen Morrow on I HAD A BALL)

INNER CITY (a 70s R&B/rock take Mother Goose rhymes. Great fun!)

Michael John LaChuisa's THE WILD PARTY. As most of the posters here know, there were two competing musical version of the same source material in the SAME season (2000). Neither was successful, but each had their particular merits. For me the LaChuisa version is the one I listen to most.

Lastly, TOP BANANA (1951), not a flop by any means but certainly rather obscure these days. For me, it's delightful because of Phil Silvers and Rose Marie (pre-Dick Van Dyke Show)

so many more, but other posters will be offering lots of others, I'm certain. Thanks for reminding us WHOOP-UP fans how much we get a kick out of that one!

Updated On: 3/24/13 at 11:45 AM

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 12:12pm

Playbill from pre-Broadway Philadelphia engagement (1964)

[Kad]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 12:12pm

Oh man, that Whoop-Up artwork makes me feel icky.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 12:13pm

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/24/13 at 12:15pm