04/07/2014
Encores!:
The Most Happy Fella
By: Joel Benjamin
Laura
Benanti and Shuler Hensley
in a
scene from The Most Happy Fella
(Photo
credit: Joan Marcus)
Frank
Loesser was a chameleon. Unlike other Golden Age of Broadway songwriters, he
was able to change styles from show to show: the composer of Where’s
Charley? bears little resemblance to the creator of How to Succeed In
Business Without Really Trying, with the “Noo Yawk” pastiche of Guys and
Dolls and the folksy Greenwillow in between. His operatic The
Most Happy Fella, which the New York City Center Encores!
has revived as the second offering of its regular season is further evidence of
this diversity of style. This robust, colorful show has been given a
full-blooded, energetic staging, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw (Aladdin
and Book of Mormon). The Loesser score gets its full due by the cast of
talented singer/actors and the Encores! Orchestra under the exuberant
direction of Rob Berman bringing out every nuance, harmony and rhythmic impulse
of this rich music.
Most
Happy Fella
begins with Tony Esposito, a farmer in Napa leaving an extraordinary tip for
Amy, a San Francisco waitress he’s keen on. He calls her Rosabella. She doesn’t
exactly remember him but is willing to enter into a correspondence with him.
When she finally plans to visit and asks for a photo, Tony, who is actually
older and not exactly a looker, sends her a picture of his handsome foreman
Joey. When Rosabella does show up it’s to a chaotic scene: Tony has broken his
leg en route to pick up Rosabella and she discovers he’s not a handsome young
man. She is emotionally extorted into marrying the injured Tony. Disappointed,
she falls into Joey’s arms.
Soon
she discovers the pleasures of Tony’s life and actually falls for him, her
fling with Joey becoming a sour memory. Tony’s overly maternal sister Marie
does everything she can to destroy Tony’s relationship with Rosabella,
constantly putting her down, even to Rosabella’s best friend and fellow
waitress, lusty Cleo, whom Tony invites up to the ranch to keep Rosabella
company. Cleo falls for affable ranch hand Herman who she discovers comes from
her hometown, Dallas leading to the big ensemble number “Big ‘D’,” one of the
several hit songs from a superbly melodic score that rises to Puccini-esque
heights at times, but also illuminates the comedy and everyday activities of
Tony’s community. There are numbers for three boisterous operatic
waiters—“Sposalizio,” “Abbondanza,” “Benvenuta”—and hilarious bits for Cleo
like “Ooh! My Feet!” about the vicissitudes of waitressing and big ensemble
numbers like “Big ‘D’,” the lovely “Song of a Summer Night” and “Fresno
Beauties.” The most famous song from the show is probably “Standing on the
Corner,” a barbershop-harmony ditty sung by Herman and his friends as they
peruse the girls passing by.
The
love stories of Rosabella and Cleo run into difficulties, but all ends well in
a rousing finale, a reprise of the soaringly emotional “My Heart is So Full of
You.”
Nicholaw’s
staging wrings every nuance from the book and songs. His choreography, danced
by an energetic cast is balletic with lots of all-American zest.
Jay
Armstrong Johnson, Heidi Blickenstaff and
cast
in a scene from The Most Happy Fella
(Photo
credit: Joan Marcus)
Laura
Benanti as Amy/Rosabella has never been so poignant and vulnerable. The size of
her soprano is a pleasant surprise. Shuler Hensley’s Tony is probably the best
I’ve ever seen, a rich combination of pathos, strength, with a strong baritone
that easily rises to the demands of the score. Heidi Blickenstaff’s Cleo was
just about perfect, her rich voice and comic timing infectious. As her
boyfriend Herman, Jay Armstrong Johnson was, if anything, too good looking and
sexy for this slightly nebbishy character, but he sang well and turned out to
be a great comic actor. Marie was played by Jessica Molaskey whose
psychological torment and neediness was beautifully played. She, too, displayed
a layered, dramatic singing voice that added to the texture of all her numbers.
Cheyenne Jackson was an ideal Joey, from his sultry voice to his sensual body
language.
This
was one of the Encores! better productions, but is probably not one that
can transfer anywhere, which is a shame because it is a glowing example of the
craft and artistry of American musical theater.
The
regular Encores! season concludes May 7 – 11 with Irma la Douce. Encores!
Off-Center will present three off-Broadway works this summer, beginning
with tick, tick…Boom! (June 25 - 28, 2014), Randy Newman’s Faust: The
Concert (July 1st) and Pump Boys and Dinettes (July 16
– 19).
The
Most Happy Fella
(April 2 - 6, 2014)
New
York City Center Encores!
131
West 55th Street, between 6th & 7th
Avenues, in Manhattan
Tickets
and Information: 212-581-1212 or http://www.nycitycenter.org
Running
Time: 2 hours and thirty minutes including one intermission
