Happy Hunting

Mama Rose meets “The Hostess With The Mostes’ On The Ball” in Happy Hunting, the 1956 musical that was a star vehicle written for the incomparable Ethel Merman. A huge, flamboyant, bubbly, light-hearted romp, Happy Hunting features a gag-filled book by the authors of Anything Goes and a delectable score featuring the Merman classics”Mutual Admiration Society” and “Gee, But It’s Good to Be Here.”

When Liz Livingstone–rich, widowed Philadelphia hostess with a heart of gold–perceives a snub at the Grace Kelly-Prince Rainier “Wedding of the Year” in Monaco, she single-mindedly sets out to snare an even more impressively titled husband for her daughter. Things get predictably complicated when she succeeds and then promptly falls for her intended son-in-law herself! Meanwhile, the bride-to-be only has eyes for the society lawyer, and Liz’s dashing Duke turns out to be very possibly penniless.