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Panama Hattie

Poster

A Musical Comedy in 2 Acts, 13 Scenes. Book by Herbert Fields and Buddy G. DeSylva. Music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

46th Street Theatre, Broadway - Opened 30th October, 1940; closed 3rd January, 1942 (501 perfs)
Piccadilly Theatre, London - 4th November, 1943 (308 perfs) .

Synopsis

Hattie Maloney is a bar girl in the Panama Canal Zone where she meets Nick Bullett, descendent of an old Philadelphia family. When Nick proposes marriage, Hattie agrees, provided Nick's young daughter, by his first wife, accepts her. At first little Geraldine is difficult but by the end of the show she and Hattie agree to be buddies!

Story

Act I

Hattie Maloney owns a night club in the Panama Canal Zone where she also performs. Three sailors from the S. S. Idaho, Skat Briggs, Windy Deegan and Woozy Hoga, ask her to sing at a party they are organizing. Nick Bullet, Hattie’s fiance, is a wealthy Navy officer. They are about to meet his eight-year-old daughter Geraldine (Jerry), off the boat from Philadelphia. He tells Hattie, "My Mother Would Love You". Hattie, eager to make a good impression on her prospective stepdaughter, spends three weeks' wages on her elaborately frilly outfit. But when she arrives, Jerry makes fun of Hattie's clothing and way of speaking. Feeling that her marriage is off, Hattie gets drunk on rum ("I’ve still Got my Health"). Kitty-Belle, the daughter of Admiral Whitney Randolph, wants to marry Nick, and she schemes to end his romance with Hattie.

Florrie, a singer in the night club, develops a crush on Nick's very proper butler Vivian Budd. Nick’s efforts to persuade Jerry and Hattie to get along with each other finally succeed, with Jerry making the still hungover Hattie cut the bows off her dress and shoes. Jerry gives Hattie advice on how to behave like a lady at a party where she is to be presented to Nick’s boss, the Admiral. Admiral Randolph is to be presented with a cup, and his daughter Kitty-Belle suggests that Hattie might present it filled with goldenrod. This gives Whitney hay fever; Hattie is blamed, and Nick is ordered not to marry Hattie.

Act II

The sailors from the S. S. Idaho uncover a spy plot involving saboteurs. Hattie swears off rum. Hattie has it out with Kitty-Belle, whose boyfriend keeps being called in whenever Hattie is on the verge of hitting her. Meanwhile, Florrie continues to try to attract the romantic attention of Budd. Hattie, two of the sailors and Budd meet regarding these various threads. Mildred Hunter, Kitty-Belle’s best friend, turns out to be a terrorist. She gives Jerry a secret package to put in Nick’s desk. Fortunately, Hattie overhears the plot to blow up the Panama Canal control room, finds the bomb and throws it out, saving the day. The grateful Admiral Whitney retracts his order and the sailors praise Hattie.

Musical Numbers

  1. Opening (A Stroll on the Plaza Sant'Ana) - Singing Girls, Boys, Ensemble
  2. Join It Right Away - Woozy Hogan, Skat Briggs, Windy Deegan
  3. Specialty - N. Gae, L. Hightower, R. Hightower, Ensemble
  4. Visit Panama - Hattie, 4 Men of Manhattan, Dancer, Ensemble
  5. American Family - Dancers
  6. My Mother Would Love You Hattie, Nick
  7. I've Still Got My Health - Hattie, Ensemble
  8. I've Still Got My Health (reprise) Ensemble
  9. Specialty
  10. Fresh As a Daisy - Florrie, Skat Briggs, Windy Deegan
  11. Welcome to Jerry - Singing Girls, Boys, Ensemble
  12. Specialty
  13. Let's Be Buddies - Hattie, Jerry
  14. They Ain't Done Right by Our Nell - Florrie, Vivian
  15. Specialty
  16. I'm Throwing a Ball Tonight - Hattie, Ensemble
  17. Conga - Hattie, Ensemble
  18. Opening - I Detest a Fiesta - Singing Girls, Boys, Ensemble
  19. Specialty Dance
  20. Who Would Have Dreamed - Ty, singer
  21. Make It Another Old-Fashioned Please - Hattie
  22. All I've Got to Get Now Is My Man - Florrie, Ensemble
  23. Street Scene - Dancer
  24. You Said It - Hattie, Vivian, Woozy Hogan, Windy Deegan, Skat Briggs
  25. Who Would Have Dreamed (Waltz reprise) - Dancers and Ensemble
  26. Let's Be Buddies (reprise) - Hattie, Jerry
  27. God Bless the Women - Woozy Hogan, Windy Deegan, Skat Briggs
  28. Finale - Entire Company

Cast (in orderof appearance

Scenes and Settings

Act 1

Act 2