John Kander, Fred Ebb - The Happy Time (1968 Original Broadway Cast)

Happy Time is a happy musical

Happy Time is a happy musical with interesting characters and lots of hummable tunes. It is Robert Goulet in a very different type of role. A surprisingly good job by David Wayne as an old man. Typical K&E without the "raunch" and with a number of songs in "fugue" style. No bad language and no hard beat like moderen musicals. Fun to listrn to. August 10, 2008

This show needs a Broadway revival!

This recording, although from the late 1960's, is really entertaining! I love the music and the storyline is plausible. "The Happy Time" is really about not having misgivings or thinking about what "could have been". It is also about reminiscing and the importance of family in our lives. The "Prodigal Son" storyline is also so important today. Everyone makes mistakes as they go through life, but it's all about what you do after making them.

Robert Goulet is tremendous on this recording!!! It is interesting to find performers (i.e. Michael Rupert) on old recordings from their early days and compare them to what they are performing today. The title song and many of Goulet's pieces are sung so effortlessly well, and the recording has been preserved so that we can appreciate his talent! Kander & Ebb should have received a lot more accolades for this musical than they got. It is a shame that this show is not done by many community theater groups or on Broadway in revival! June 10, 2008

Wonderful Kander and Ebb

A terrific show, with a beautiful score, great performances, lovely and sentimental book. Why was it a flop? According to the liner notes in the newest release it was done in by the critics who were kept waiting by producer David Merrick, for a half an hour on opening night, in order to allow Times critic, Clive Barnes to arrive from out of town. Not too happy to have the curtain held for a competing critic, the rest were not too receptive to the show and were rather harsh in their assessments of it's virtues.
Robert Goulet gave what was probably his finest performance (and won a well deserved Tony), before he turned into the Vegas schmaltz singer that defined the later part of his career. His voice here is clear, rich and gorgeous!!
The rest of the cast are superlative as well. The great David Wayne is delightful as the aged Grandpierre, and Mike Rupert is fine as his young grandson. The 3 men had a showstopper with A Certain Girl. And Julie Gregg in her duet with Goulet, Seeing Things, was beautiful.
A shame the show wasn't more successful! Get the CD, you won't be sorry!! March 18, 2008

A Pleasant Surprise

It's hard to believe that the original production could have been a legendary flop. The cast is superb, and the score is outstanding (it gets better with each listening). The CD is a bit short, and leaves you wanting more (apparently several songs were cut before the production opened in 1968). Still, the CD is a bargain. August 29, 2007

An Excellent Kander and Ebb Entry

I can't say this is one of the classic scores of Broadway, and it may not even be Kander and Ebb's best. That said, it's tuneful and generally delightful, and listening to it you would not think this was a flop. All of the songs are at least good, and there are several excellent numbers that stand out.

I Don't Remember You is a beautiful ballad. Without Me is a lively self-affirmation by a young Michael (named as Mike here) Rupert who, thirty-nine years later, is still having a pretty good career on Broadway. It's almost the sort of thing Jerry Herman wrote, but less annoying than many of Herman's numbers in this genre. Rupert also held his own with vets Goulet and Wayne in Tomorrow Morning and in That Certain Girl, no mean feat. With the possible exception of I Don't Remember You, Tomorrow Morning is probably my favorite song in the show - a tuneful and funny party song. I also like A Certain Girl, done in a charming three-part harmony.

The cast is generally very good, at least in terms of singing. From what I've read here and elsewhere this show flopped on Broadway for reasons similar to what happened to Herman's Dear World. A story that called for an intimate production with real emotion was overproduced, and the clashing aesthetics did it in. One flaw that does come though on the recording is the uneveness of the accents. They range from thoroughly stilted and on/off attempts at French Canadian accents (Wayne, some of the smaller roles) to non-existent (Rupert). Goulet is the only one who really got it right, which was only natural, since he grew up in Quebec. I'll grant that it's not the easiest accent to do, but the others could still have done better. I read the original NY Times Review of the show, and the problem was bad enough on stage that it garnered a long mention by the reviewer.

All in all, I'd say this was a flawed but basically good show. The recording is less flawed, and generally shows a very good score to good advantage. If you appreciate broadway musicals, this one is well worth having. July 6, 2007

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