Hellzapoppin' was a musical revue which was a Broadway hit, running from 22 September 1938 to 17 December 1941, and was at the time the longest-running Broadway musical with 1,404 performances — one of only three plays to run more than 500 performances in the 1930s.
A comedy hodgepodge full of sight gags and slapstick, the show was continually rewritten throughout its run to remain topical (its opening scene was Hitler speaking in a Yiddish accent). A circus atmosphere prevailed, with dwarfs, clowns, trained pigeons and audience participation adding to the merriment. The book was by Olsen and Johnson, a comedy team consisting of John "Ole" Olsen and Harold "Chic" Johnson.
Olsen and Johnson led a large cast of entertainers: Billy Adams, the Hawaiian music of Ray Kinney and the Aloha Maids, the comedy team Barto & Mann (Dewey Barto and George Mann), Bergh and Moore, singing group The Charioteers, identical-twin dancers Bettymae and Beverly Crane, Walter Nilsson, J. C. Olsen, celebrity impersonators The Radio Rogues, Reed, Dean and Reed (Bonnie Reed, Syd Dean, and Mel Reed), Roberta and Ray, Hal Sherman, The Starlings, Dorothy Thomas, Shirley Wayne, June Winters, and Whitey's Steppers (also known as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers).
The songs (decidedly less a factor for the show's success than its comedy), included:
Songs and lyrics featured during the run include work by Sammy Fain and Charles Tobias, Don George, Teddy Hall, Annette Mills, Gonzalo Curiel, and Oscar Hammerstein II.
The show opened at the original 46th Street Theatre, and moved later in its run to the Winter Garden Theatre and the Majestic Theatre, and spawned several successful sequels. During the late 1940s, the show went on the road, appearing in smaller towns throughout the US. Its format was reduced in size, but continued in the same style of sight gags, risque humor, and audience involvement.
The television show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (1968-1973) was an attempt to replicate the fast-paced, anything-can-happen atmosphere for a new generation.
Ole and Chick are making a movie, but the director is not satisfied. So he brings them to a young writer, who outlines them an absurd story. They have to support Jeff and Kitty in setting up a musical revue in their garden and want to bring it up on Broadway. If Jeff is successful he can marry Kitty. But there is his rich friend Woody, who also loves Kitty, Chick's sister Betty, who's in love with a false Russian count, and detective Quimby. They all make the thing very complicated for Ole and Chick. After some mistakes they think that Kitty isn't the right girl for Jeff and they start sabotaging the show, but the Broadway producer is impressed and signs the contract. That's the story the writer tells them. For this he's sued by the director. Written by Stephan Eichenberg
