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Happy New Year is a musical with a book by Burt Shevelove and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

Based on Philip Barry's comic 1928 play Holiday and its subsequent 1930 film adaptation and better known 1938 remake, it focuses on hedonistic young Wall Street attorney Johnny Case who, driven by his passion to live life as a holiday, contemplates abandoning his career for a carefree existence by marrying wealthy upper class Julia Seton.

In 2008, it was released again in several countries, and charted in Denmark , Norway , and Sweden. It re-entered the Sweden and Norway charts in 2009 at in both charts.

History

Porter successfully had transformed Barry's The Philadelphia Story into the musical film High Society, so Shevelove pored through the composer's catalogue in search of tunes that would fit Holiday's plot. When the show previewed at the Stratford Festival in Canada, the score consisted of lesser-known Porter songs, and Shevelove decided to eliminate most of them in favor of music more familiar to audiences. He also opted to replace much of Barry's original repartee with songs that suited neither the characters nor the situations, and replaced the gaps with a narrator whose purpose was to explain what was missing from the plot, a device that ultimately proved to be clumsy and confusing.

Synopsis

The Narrator introduces the Seton family, who in December 1933 live in a five story townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City. He relates their story.

Successful Wall Street lawyer Johnny Case has become engaged to Julia Seton. Julia and her sister Linda celebrate the engagement ("At Long Last Love"). However, Johnny has decided to abandon his well-paid career and instead live a life of pleasure, using Julia's money. Julia's banker father Edward is very upset and her willful sister Linda is fascinated. Johnny begins to realize that he loves the unconventional Linda, and they become a couple, disregarding the "old money and values" of others for a life together.

Other new year celebrations

The most common modern dates of celebration are listed below, ordered and grouped by their appearance relative to the conventional Western calendar.

Many cities across the world celebrate the New Year. The celebrations usually include a firework's display, and other festivities. London, for example, has a major fireworks display along the River Thames, followed by a parade on New Year's Day.

The Gregorian calendar is now used by many countries as the official calendar. This has meant that celebrations for the New Year have become much larger than before. Some countries^[which?] even consider 1 January to be a national holiday.

January

1 January: The first official day of the year in the Gregorian calendar used by most countries. Eight of the twelve biggest Eastern Orthodox Churches which have adopted the Revised Julian calendar - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Syria and Turkey - also celebrate 1 January as the New Year.

• New Year in France is one of the most traditional and oldest celebrations, but in fact they do not have any "rule" as on what to wear. New year in France is also known as Jour des Étrennes. This celebration starts on January 1 when the people start wishing each other Bonne année, which is the same as happy new year, and ends at 6 January. They have a great show with fire works shot near the Eiffel tower. French people call New Year's Eve la Saint-Sylvestre. On this day they have a special feast called le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre in which they have nice dishes like pancakes and flavoured duck or goose. They drink champagne, a white sparkling wine produced in the Champagne Region of France. They also drink vin chaud (hot wine), but sparkling cider is also common. They also have a festival cake called galette des rois which has sometimes a little king figure baked inside. They believe, like several other countries, that this nice dinner brings a nice year to the family.

• The Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year (Declaration Bill 2008) was introduced in the House by the Tamil Nadu DMK Government on 29 January 2008. ^[2] According to the statement of objects and reasons of the Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year (Declaration) Act 2008, the Governor in his address to the House had announced that in view of the consensus amongst some Tamil scholars that the first day of the month of Thai is the first day of the Tamil year, the Government had decided to declare the first day of Thai as the Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year Day. This legislative enactment of the DMK government was not without controversy. It abolished the Tamil calendar for purportedly secular reasons and reaffirmed the use of the Tiruvalluvar era created in the 20th century as the official calendar. The order abolishes the use of traditional Tamil Years in the 60 year cycle. It proposes that 14 January of every year be celebrated as Tamil New Year in addition to the famous harvest/farmer festival Pongal^[3]. But the said resolution has been met with resistance.^{[4] [5][6]}and has been challenged in court ^[7][8][9].The opposition AIADMK and MDMK in Tamil Nadu condemned the decision of the DMK Government in that state and urged their supporters to continue celebrating the traditional date in mid-April^[10]. Tamils in Sri Lanka and in other diaspora communities worldwide continue to observe the new year in mid-April. as they are outside of the jurisdiction of the Tamil Nadu State of India.

• In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the civil New Year falls on Gregorian 14 January (1 January in the Julian calendar). Many in the countries where Eastern Orthodoxy predominates celebrate both the Gregorian and Julian New Year holidays, with the Gregorian day celebrated as a civic holiday, and the Julian date as the "Old New Year", a religious holiday. The orthodox churches of Georgia, Jerusalem, Russia, the Republic of Macedonia and Serbia still use the Julian Calendar.
• The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, about four to eight weeks before spring (Lichun). The exact date can fall anytime between 21 January and 21 February (inclusive) of the Gregorian Calendar. Traditionally, years were marked by one of twelve Earthly Branches, represented by an animal, and one of ten Heavenly Stems, which correspond to the five elements. This combination cycles every 60 years. It is the most important Chinese celebration of the year.

• The Vietnamese New Year is the Tết Nguyên Đán which is for most times the same day as the Chinese New Year.

• The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March.

March

• Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox. Ancient celebrations lasted for eleven days.

• Nava (new) Varsha (year) is celebrated in India in various regions in March-April.

• New Year's Day in the Sikh Nanakshahi calendar is on 14 March.

• The Iranian New Year, called Nowruz, is the day containing the exact moment of the vernal equinox, which usually occurs on 20 or 21 March, commencing the start of the spring season. The Zoroastrian New Year coincides with the Iranian New Year of Nowruz, and is celebrated by the Parsis in India and by Zoroastrians and Persians across the world. In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year occurs on the vernal equinox on 21 March, and is called Naw-Rúz. The Iranian tradition was also passed on to Central Asian countries, including Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Uighurs, and there is known as Nauryz. It is usually celebrated on 22 March.

• The Balinese New Year, based on the Saka Calendar (Balinese-Javanese Calendar), is called Nyepi, and it falls on Bali's Lunar New Year (26 March in 2009). It is a day of silence, fasting, and meditation: observed from 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning, Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. Although Nyepi is a primarily Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt; although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.

• The Telugu New Year generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh, India celebrate the advent of New Year's Day in these months. This day is celebrated across entire Andhra Pradesh as UGADI (meaning the start of a new Year). The first month is Chaitra Masam. Masam means month.

• Kashmiri Calendar, Navreh (New Year): 5083 Saptarshi/2064 Vikrami/2007–08 AD, 19 March.

• Gudi Padwa is celebrated as the first day of the Hindu year by the people of Maharashtra, India. This day falls in March or April and coincides with Ugadi. (see: Deccan)

• Ugadi, the Kannada New Year is celebrated by the people of Karnataka, India as the beginning of a new year according to the Hindu Calendar. The first month of the New Year is Chaitra.

• Sindhi festival of Cheti Chand is celebrated on the same day as Ugadi/Gudi Padwa to mark the celebration of the Sindhi New Year.

• The Thelemic New Year on 20 March is usually celebrated with an invocation to Ra-Hoor-Khuit, commemorating the beginning of the New Aeon in 1904. It also marks the start of the twenty-two day Thelemic holy season, which ends at the third day of the writing of The Book of the Law. This date is also known as The Feast of the Supreme Ritual. There are some that believe the Thelemic New Year falls on either 19, 20 or 21 March, depending on the vernal equinox, this is The Feast for the Equinox of the Gods which is held on the vernal equinox of each year to commemorate the founding of Thelema in 1904. In 1904 the vernal equinox was on a 21st and it was the day after Aleister Crowley ended his Horus Invocation that brought on the new Æon and Thelemic New Year.

April

• The Assyrian New Year, called Rish Nissanu, occurs on the first day of April.

Mid-April (Northern Spring)

The new year of many South and Southeast Asian calendars falls between 13 and 15 April, marking the beginning of Spring.

• Punjabi/Sikh New Year is celebrated on the 14th of April in Punjab.
• Nepali New Year is celebrated on the 1st of Baisakh Baisākh (12-15 April) in Nepal.
• Assamese New Year (Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu) is celebrated on 14–15 April in the Indian state of Assam.
• Bengali New Year (Bengali: পহেলা বৈশাখ Pôhela Boishakh or Bengali: বাংলা নববর্ষ Bangla Nôbobôrsho) is celebrated on the 1st of Boishakh (14–15 April) in Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.
• Oriya New Year (Vishuva Sankranti) is celebrated on 14 April in the Indian state of Orissa.
• Sinhalese New Year is celebrated with the harvest festival (in the month of Bak) when the sun moves from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries). Sri Lankans begin celebrating their National New Year "Aluth Avurudhu" in Sinhala and "Puththandu (புத்தாண்டு)" in Tamil. However, unlike the usual practice where the new year begins at midnight, the National New Year begins at the time determined by the astrologers. Not only the beginning of the new year but the conclusion of the old year is also specified by the astrologers. And unlike the customary ending and beginning of new year, there is a period of a few hours in between the conclusion of the Old Year and the commencement of the New Year, which is called the "nona gathe" (neutral period). During this time one is expected to keep off from all types of work and engage solely in religious activities. It will fall on 13 April for the year 2009.
• Tamil New Year (Puthandu) is celebrated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the first of Chithrai (சித்திரை). In the temple city of Madurai, the Chithrai Thiruvizha is celebrated in the Meenakshi Temple. A huge exhibition is also held, called Chithrai Porutkaatchi. In some parts of Southern Tamil Nadu, it is also called Chithrai Vishu. The day is marked with a feast in Hindu homes and the entrance to the houses are decorated elaborately with kolams. While the holiday generally falls on 13 or 14 April, this may no longer be the case (officially at least) in Tamil Nadu in the future, as a bill declaring the first day of the Tamil month 'Thai' (January 14) as the new Tamil New Year day was unanimously passed in the Tamil Nadu State Assembly.
• Malayali New Year (Vishu) is celebrated in the South Indian state of Kerala.
• In some parts of Karnataka, the new year may be celebrated in mid-April, although it is most commonly celebrated on the day of Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian new year.
• The Water Festival is the form of similar new year celebrations taking place in many Southeast Asian countries, on the day of the full moon of the 11th month on the lunisolar calendar each year. The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed on 13–15 April. Traditionally people gently sprinkled water on one another as a sign of respect, but as the new year falls during the hottest month in Southeast Asia, many people end up dousing strangers and passersby in vehicles in boisterous celebration. The festival has many different names specific to each country, in Myanmar it is known as Thingyan (Burmese: ; MLCTS: sangkran), Songkran (Thai: สงกรานต์) in Thailand, Pi Mai Lao (Lao:ປີໃໝ່ Songkan) in Laos, and Chaul Chnam Thmey (Khmer: បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ) in Cambodia. It is also the traditional new year of the Dai peoples of Yunnan Province, China. Religious activities in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism are also carried out, a tradition which all of these cultures share.