Shipoopi

{{Short description|1957 song by Meredith Willson.}}

{{More citations needed|date=February 2016}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Shipoopi

| cover =

| alt =

| type =

| artist =

| album = The Music Man

| language = English

| released = 1957

| format =

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Show tune

| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=21}}

| label =

| writer = Meredith Willson

| producer =

}}

"Shipoopi" is a song in the 1957 musical The Music Man by Meredith Willson.{{cite book|last=Dalzell|first=Tom|title=The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5F-YNZRv-VMC&pg=PA863|year=2009|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-37182-7|page=863}} The song is sung by the character of Marcellus Washburn, a friend of con man "Professor" Harold Hill. It occurs in act 2 of the play during the dance committee's rehearsal which the town kids interrupt.

Neither the song's lyrics nor the surrounding dialogue explain the meaning of the term "shipoopi", which Wilson invented for the song and acts as a term of endearment.

In the original 1957 Broadway production, the song was performed by actor Iggie Wolfington, who portrayed Marcellus Washburn. In the 1962 film version of The Music Man, Marcellus is played by Buddy Hackett. According to the film documentary included with the extended DVD release, choreographer Onna White was able to take Hackett, not known as a dancer, and make him into a dancer for this number.

In the 2022 Broadway revival, the lyrics for the song were altered, with new lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Sam |date=2022-02-23 |title=Hugh Jackman's The Music Man Removes the Classic Show's Racist Subtext. What's Left? |language=en-US |work=Slate |url=https://slate.com/culture/2022/02/music-man-hugh-jackman-broadway-ya-got-trouble.html |access-date=2023-02-16 |issn=1091-2339}}