Most Happy Fella is Frank Loesser’s attempt at an operatic score. It ran for nearly 700 performances despite having opened just six weeks after My Fair Lady. The score is fantastic and the songs run from Romantic ballads (“Joey”) to barbershop (“Standing on The Corner”) to show toppers (“Big D”). The cast has to be full of extraordinary singers and is usually now only staged by full-fledged opera companies. Once again LA’s own Musical Theatre Guild succeeds in near-impossible conditions. Director Calvin Remsberg has assembled a stellar cast and wisely kept the blocking simple and concentrated on the difficult score. My main problem is that it was only performed with two pianos (one of which was sometimes off-key) like a recent Broadway revival. Having heard the score in its full glory at New York City Opera, I missed the fullness.
What a cast Remsberg has assembled. He has MTG regulars like Sam Zeller (sounding mellower than I have heard him before) as Joey. His rendition of “Joey” is one of the highlights of the evening. Reece Holland, Scott Harlan, and Danny Stiles are the funny “Bonanza” chefs. Though perhaps slightly over the top, their singing was terrific. The always-busy Michelle Duffy sings Rosabella and displays her usually super acting skills and a surprising soprano. Jennifer Gordon as Cleo started too big but was very good in her scenes with a handsome Dan Callaway as Herman. Carol Kline was Tony’s over-protective sister. There were some other good singers rounding out the mix including the silver-voiced Brandon Michael Perkins, the veteran Tracy Lore, and character man Steven Hack.
You don’t have a production of Most Happy Fella without a Tony. Michael Skidgel takes on the part here and is a star in the making. His voice is trilling, his acting understated but very real, and his future made secure by this performance. Director Remsberg said he discovered him in a chorus and knew he was destined for great things and entrusted him with the leading role. Sidgel delivers a Broadway caliber performance. Most Happy Fellow played at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and also at the Scherr Forum in Thousand Oaks and was performed by the impressive Musical Theatre Guild.
Article comments