Flahooley

Flahooley
Capitol Records Album Cover for Flahooley
Music	Sammy Fain
Lyrics	E. Y. Harburg
Book	E. Y. Harburg Fred Saidy
Productions	1951 Broadway 1998 Off-Off Broadway

1951 Broadway

Flahooley is a musical with a book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Sammy Fain.

The allegorical tale is set in fictional Capsulanti, USA, site of the headquarters for B.G. Bigelow, Incorporated, the largest toy corporation in the world. Puppet designer Sylvester has created laughing doll Flahooley and is about to unveil it as the company's big Christmas release to the board of directors when the meeting is interrupted by a Saudi Arabian delegation. Their country has run out of oil, the magic lamp upon which they rely is broken, and they hope someone can repair it so genie Abou Ben Atom, who keeps things running smoothly, will reappear and help them in their time of need. Bigelow, enamored with Princess Najla, agrees and assigns Sylvester to the project. He succeeds and, hoping to become wealthy enough to marry his model Sandy, asks for assistance from the genie who, unclear on the concept of capitalism, begins giving away thousands of dolls. Before long a witch is pursuing him in an effort to put an end to his misguided generosity.

Harburg had successfully blended politics with fantasy in Finian's Rainbow four years earlier, but his bitterness at his 1950 Hollywood blacklisting, which prompted him to write Flahooley, permeated the project. During its evolution he conceded to some adjustments - originally the doll, instead of laughing, yelled "Dirty Red!" when turned upside down - but his convoluted plot still included too many thinly veiled references to Joseph McCarthy and his followers, and his harsh parody of the ongoing rabid anti-Communist sentiment that prompted so many witch hunts was not softened by the inclusion of a genie and singing puppets. It did not help that associate producer/director Harburg saw no need to edit writer Harburg's overstated political views.