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The Happiest Girl in the World

Full-Length Musical, Drama  /  3w, 5m

Fred Saidy, Henry Mayers, E. Y. Harburg, Jacques Offenbach

Book by Fred Saidy and Henry Mayers / Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg / Music from the works of Jacques Offenbach

Aristophanes' ancient sex comedy Lysistrata comes to life in this musical adaptation set to the melodies of Jacques Offenbach.

The Happiest Girl in the World

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 5m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptation (Literature)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Senior, Teen (Age 14-18)
Accolades
Accolades
  • NOMINEE: 1962 Tony Award for Best Choreography
    WINNER! 1962 Theatre World Award (Bruce Yarnell)
The Happiest Girl in the World

Details

Summary
The Happiest Girl in the World is based on the comedy Lysistrata by Aristophanes and tales of Greek mythology by Thomas Bulfinch, set to the music of Jacques Offenbach. It focuses on the women of Ancient Greece and Sparta who, inspired by virginal goddess Diana, vow to withhold sex from their husbands and lovers until they promise to put an end to their fighting. Complications ensue when Diana’s uncle, the underworld ruler Pluto, balks at the notion of peace and attempts to derail her plan.
History
The Happiest Girl in the World opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on April 3, 1961 and played for 98 performances. The cast included Cyril Ritchard, Janice Rule and Lainie Kazan.
Keywords
Performing Groups
Based on the comedy Lysistrata by Aristophanes and tales of Greek mythology by Thomas Bulfinch, The Happiest Girl in the World focuses on the women of Ancient Greece and Sparta. The women in ancient Athens have a problem: their men are constantly fighting and at war. Inspired by Diana, the chaste goddess of the moon, the women decide to suspend all sexual contact with the men until they have forsaken war. In the end, the Chief of State arrives with the summons to another war. However, it turns out the Spartan women have used the same stratagem as the Athenian girls, and the Spartan men ask for a lasting peace. The Athenians agree, and husbands and wives are reunited.

Principals
(3 female; 5 male)

Lysistrata
Diana
Myrrhina

Pluto
General Kinesias
Juno
Mercury
Bacchus

Others

1st Greek Messenger
2nd Greek Messenger
Herald
1st Cabinet Minister
2nd Cabinet Minister
3rd Cabinet Minister
Crowd of Spectators at the Olympic Games
Runner
Wrestler
Discus-thrower
Weight-lifter
Hurdle-race Runner
4 Vestal Virgins
Chief of State
Phoebe
The Trumpeter
Captain Crito
Women
Apollo
Neptune
Jupiter
Aphrodite
Gods
Amaryllis
Daphne
Ulysses
Hector
Ataraxohymonides
Men
Soldier
Sergent
Girls
Spartan Woman
Persians
Rhodope

  • Time Period Greek/Roman/Biblical
  • Setting
    Athens. 400 B.C.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Music

Music Samples

Act I

Runners – Orchestra
Bugle Calls – Orchestra
1. Olympics Revisisted – Orchestra
1a. Bridge To Cheers – Orchestra
2. Cheers For The Hero – Chorus
3. “The Glory That Is Greece” – Pluto, Kinesias, Chorus & Three Virgins
4. Glory Bridge – Orchestra
5. “Happiest Girl In The World” – Lysistrata & Kinesias
6. “Greek Marines” – Soldiers & Pluto
7. Marine Utility – Orchestra
7a. Trumpeter – Music
8. “Shall We Say Farewell?” – Lysistrata
8a. Bridge to Olympus – Orchestra
9. Pluto’s Entrance – Orchestra
10. “Never Be-Devil The Devil” – Pluto
10a. Celeste Cue – Orchestra
11. Marine Utility – Orchestra
12. “Whatever That May Be” – Diana & the Gods
13. “Eureka” – Diana, Chorus, Jupiter, Juno, Mercury, & Bacchus
14. Diana’s Descent – Orchestra
15. Bridge to Oath – Orchestra
16. “Oath Song and March” – Lysistrata & Women
17. Happiest Girl (Ballet) – Orchestra
17a. Reprise: “Happiest Girl” – Lysistrata, Kinesias, & Chorus
18. “Transformation” – Pluto & Diana
19. “Vive La Virtue” – Pluto & Diana
20. “Adrift On A Star” – Lysistrata & Kinesias
22a. Underscore—Orchestra
21. Second Reprise: “Happiest Girl” – Lysistrata & Kinesias
22. Finale Act I: “Oath Reprise” – Women

Act II

23. Entr’acte – Orchestra
24. “Sez She, To Me” – Men
25a. Reprise: “Sez She, To Me” – Men
25. Sez She, To Me – Utility – Orchestra
26. “How Soon, Oh Moon?” – Lysistrata & Women
27a. Shepherd’s Serenade – Orchestra
27b. “Love Sick Serenade” – Pluto & Myrrhina
27. “Five Minute Of Spring” – Lysistrata & Kinesias
28. Marine Utility – Orchestra
29. Reprise: “Soldiers” – Men
30. Marine Utility – Orchestra
31. “Never Trust A Virgin” – Pluto & Women
32. Persian Women – Orchestra
34a. Bridge to Falute – Orchestra
33. Magic Falute – Orchestra
35a. Falute Playoff – Orchestra
34. Five Minutes – Orchestra
36a. Persian Women Utility – Orchestra
35. “Five Minutes of Whatever” – Diana
36. He Doesn’t Make It Again – Orchestra
37. Harp Arrows – Orchestra
37a. Reprise: “Vive La Virtue” – Diana & Pluto
38. Finale Act II – Full Company
39. Bow & Exit Music – Orchestra

Full Orchestration

Violin ABCD
Viola AB
Cello
Bass

Flute I
Flute II – PICCOLO
Clarinet I
Clarinet II – BASS CLARINET
Bassoon

Horn I
Horn II
Trumpet I & II
Trombone I – EUPHONIUM
Trombone II

Percussion
Harp
Piano-Celeste

  • Musical Style Classic Broadway, Operetta
  • Dance Requirements Easy
  • Vocal DemandsModerate
  • Orchestra Size Large
  • Chorus Size Large

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!
22 Libretto-Vocal Book
1 Piano-Conductor
1 Flute 1
1 Flute 2
1 Clarinet 1
1 Clarinet 2
1 Bassoon
1 Horn 1
1 Horn 2
2 Trumpet 1&2
1 Trombone 1
1 Trombone 2
1 Percussion
1 Piano/Celeste
1 Harp
3 Violin ABCD
1 Viola AB
1 Cello
1 Bass
22 Libretto-Vocal Book
1 Piano-Conductor
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Authors

Author

Fred Saidy

Author

Henry Mayers

E. Y. Harburg

E. Y. Harburg

One of America’s greatest lyricists for stage and screen, Yip Harburg (1896-1981) was the son of poor Russian-Jewish immigrants and attended CCNY. Also a book writer (usually with Fred Saidy), director, and poet, Harburg wrote lyrics for more than 550 songs, including “It’s O ...

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Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach

JACQUES OFFENBACH was a German-born French composer, remembered for nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss II and Arthur Sulliva ...

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