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Anyone Can Whistle: A Musical Fable
Book by Arthur Laurents, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
186 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Arthur Laurents
42 books15 followersArthur Laurents was an American playwright, librettist, stage director, and screenwriter. His credits included the stage musicals West Side Story and Gypsy and the film The Way We Were.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 27, 2020
Pee-ew. It’s hard to believe that Arthur Laurents wrote the books for both this and Gypsy. There is only one scene that doesn’t ring horribly false, the scene coming out of Everybody Says Don’t, into the second act break.
The rest of the book swings wildly in tone, between the cartoonishly evol Cora and her cronies, and the painfully glib commentary on how “maybe crazy people are actually the sane ones, have you thought about that?” Having shared a flat with someone who had actual psychotic episodes, I can categorically state that the same ones are the ones not hallucinating conversations between (absent) me and (non-existent) police officers
The rest of the book swings wildly in tone, between the cartoonishly evol Cora and her cronies, and the painfully glib commentary on how “maybe crazy people are actually the sane ones, have you thought about that?” Having shared a flat with someone who had actual psychotic episodes, I can categorically state that the same ones are the ones not hallucinating conversations between (absent) me and (non-existent) police officers
February 25, 2015
Why is it the shows that challenge me and make me think are the ones no one will produce without a struggle..... Another show I'd love to direct/perform in. One day after never...
This is funny, thought provoking and some of Sondheim's most inventive music. A Plot that defies description, but great social commentary...
This is funny, thought provoking and some of Sondheim's most inventive music. A Plot that defies description, but great social commentary...
July 31, 2025
Reading the libretto of one of Stephen Sondheim's first musicals is a glorious, zany mess. With a book written by Arthur Laurents, (most famous for "Gypsy") this musical is one uneven, goofy mess that is both cerebral and inconsistent.
Set in a dying town suffering from a drought, and run by the flamboyant Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper, she and her henchmen hatch up a fake miracle where they claim it spouts off water that cures insanity.
Suddenly, rational and serious Nurse Apple and goofy Doctor Hapgood come into the town, bringing their mental patients, "The Cookies" with hopes that they are cured from the waters from the fake miracle that Mayoress Hoover Hooper and her minions have hatched up.
As a book, it's all over the place with a plot that defies convention. But as a score, it soars.
I have listened to the original Broadway 1964 cast album several times with Lee Remick (Fay), Harry Guardino (Hapgood) and the immortal Angela Lansbury as Mayoress Cora whose musical theatre career was launched by this Laurents/Sondheim concoction.
The score is tuneful, boasting some of Sondheim's finest songs that range from zany, to heartfelt and romantic. "Anyone Can Whistle" and "With So Little to Be Sure Of" are two of my favorite Sondheim ballads, sung by Mr. Guardino and Ms. Remick.
But for listening pleasure, Bernadette Peters' cover of "With So Little to Be Sure Of" is one of the best interpretations of this song.
Angela Lansbury is brassy fun as Cora. It's amazing to hear her sing songs such as "A Parade in Town" and "I've Got You to Lean On" with so much aplomb that one wonders if she'd always been a musical theater performer before 1964.
I was lucky to have seen two productions of this very little seen play, since the infamous original production was a Broadway flop after
only 9 performances and scathing reviews.
But of course, time has been kinder to this show, and it's great that its more appreciated now for its loony plot juxtaposed with other standards such as Hapgood's "Simple" and "Everybody Says Don't".
I saw the 2010 brief revival at New York City Center, starring Raul Esparza and Sutton Foster in winning performances as Hapgood and Nurse Apple, respectively. Foster’s rendition of “Come Play Wiz Me” is hilarious and her version of the title ballad is wistful and poignant.
But it was Donna Murphy's both sinister and over the top Mayoress Hoover Hooper that literally stopped the show. With her jerky movements and manic characterization, she gave a performance that's now part of theater lore and was one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen on stage. Her "Me and My Town" was a cartoonish delight, summoning up a Lucille Ball performance possessed by the devil.
Later in 2023, I saw the Carnegie Hall concert production starring Elizabeth Stanley (Fay), Santino Fontana (Hapgood) and an understated, unexpectedly heartbreaking interpretation of Mayoress Hoover Hooper played by Vanessa Williams.
Her "A Parade in Town" became an interior monologue about being left behind and resigning herself to a possible life of loneliness since she is self aware of her selfish motives.
Williams’ more human and earthy take will continue to debate those who love Sondheim’s work, but she gave a performance that was very much her own stamp, which I felt continues a theater career very much guided by Sondheim after being cast in two productions of his work while he was still alive.
I love Stephen Sondheim's work- and will continue to read all the scripts and lyrics that he's written as my way of keeping him alive in my everyday life.
Set in a dying town suffering from a drought, and run by the flamboyant Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper, she and her henchmen hatch up a fake miracle where they claim it spouts off water that cures insanity.
Suddenly, rational and serious Nurse Apple and goofy Doctor Hapgood come into the town, bringing their mental patients, "The Cookies" with hopes that they are cured from the waters from the fake miracle that Mayoress Hoover Hooper and her minions have hatched up.
As a book, it's all over the place with a plot that defies convention. But as a score, it soars.
I have listened to the original Broadway 1964 cast album several times with Lee Remick (Fay), Harry Guardino (Hapgood) and the immortal Angela Lansbury as Mayoress Cora whose musical theatre career was launched by this Laurents/Sondheim concoction.
The score is tuneful, boasting some of Sondheim's finest songs that range from zany, to heartfelt and romantic. "Anyone Can Whistle" and "With So Little to Be Sure Of" are two of my favorite Sondheim ballads, sung by Mr. Guardino and Ms. Remick.
But for listening pleasure, Bernadette Peters' cover of "With So Little to Be Sure Of" is one of the best interpretations of this song.
Angela Lansbury is brassy fun as Cora. It's amazing to hear her sing songs such as "A Parade in Town" and "I've Got You to Lean On" with so much aplomb that one wonders if she'd always been a musical theater performer before 1964.
I was lucky to have seen two productions of this very little seen play, since the infamous original production was a Broadway flop after
only 9 performances and scathing reviews.
But of course, time has been kinder to this show, and it's great that its more appreciated now for its loony plot juxtaposed with other standards such as Hapgood's "Simple" and "Everybody Says Don't".
I saw the 2010 brief revival at New York City Center, starring Raul Esparza and Sutton Foster in winning performances as Hapgood and Nurse Apple, respectively. Foster’s rendition of “Come Play Wiz Me” is hilarious and her version of the title ballad is wistful and poignant.
But it was Donna Murphy's both sinister and over the top Mayoress Hoover Hooper that literally stopped the show. With her jerky movements and manic characterization, she gave a performance that's now part of theater lore and was one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen on stage. Her "Me and My Town" was a cartoonish delight, summoning up a Lucille Ball performance possessed by the devil.
Later in 2023, I saw the Carnegie Hall concert production starring Elizabeth Stanley (Fay), Santino Fontana (Hapgood) and an understated, unexpectedly heartbreaking interpretation of Mayoress Hoover Hooper played by Vanessa Williams.
Her "A Parade in Town" became an interior monologue about being left behind and resigning herself to a possible life of loneliness since she is self aware of her selfish motives.
Williams’ more human and earthy take will continue to debate those who love Sondheim’s work, but she gave a performance that was very much her own stamp, which I felt continues a theater career very much guided by Sondheim after being cast in two productions of his work while he was still alive.
I love Stephen Sondheim's work- and will continue to read all the scripts and lyrics that he's written as my way of keeping him alive in my everyday life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews