Hellzapoppin' the Musical Comedy Revue

   Hellzapoppin' was originally a very successful Broadway Musical which consisted of two acts and twenty-five scenes. Olsen and Johnson combined many skits, gags and sketches they had used in Vaudeville shows around the country. THE HIT OF THE SHOW was the un-programmed (not listed in the musicals program) Stunts and Pranks, with some being extremely insulting for the day. However no one was offended as they had "Stooges" in the audience. Stunts such as 50 pounds of ice raffled off and then suddenly just dumped into the winners ("stooges") lap. The audience was led to believe that spiders were on the ceiling, then "Rice" would be thrown at them. In the opening scene, Hitler would be seen speaking with a "Yiddish accent.""Whyte's Lindy Hoppers" danced in the play as well as the movie.

   The critics reported the show as "Ordinary" but the public loved it. After the show closed Olsen and Johnson opened another show called "Son's o' Fun" which was very similar to Hellzapoppin'. By the way, Pins and Needles and Hellzapoppin' were the only shows that passed the 500 performance record in that decade. Later Universal Pictures produced the
movie Hellzapoppin' in 1941.

1,404 Performances
(Was One of Broadway's Longest Running Musicals)

Additional Info:
Assembled by: Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson;
music by: Sammy Fain;
Lyrics By: Charles Tobias;
Additional Words/Music by: Annette Mills, Teddy Hall, Don George, Paul Mann, Stephen Weiss, Sam Lewis.
Produced by: Olsen and Johnson,
Staged by: Edward Duryea Dowling.
Choreography: Gae Foster

Original Cast Included:
Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson,
Dewey Barto and George Mann, (Comedians)
Shirley Wayne,
Ray Kinney and the Aloha Maids,
The Radio Rogues, (Musicians)
The Charioteers,
Betty Mae and Beverly Crane,
Hal Sherman,
Walter Nilsson,
Berg and Moore,
Reed, Dean and Reed (3)
and Whitey's Steppers (Swing Troupe... aka Whitey's Lindy Hoppers).

Principle Songs:
1) "Blow a Balloon Up to the Moon,"
2) "Fuddle-Dee-Duddle,"
3) "It's Time To Say Aloha,"
4) "When McGregor Sings Off Key,"
5) "Boomps-a-Daisy" (Swing Song),
6) "We Won't Let It Happen Here,"
7) "When You Look In Your Looking Glass".
8) "Hellzapoppin' [mp3]