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<\/p>\nby Peter Thomas Ricci<\/p>\n
\u2018The Most Happy Fella,\u2019 the 1956 musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser \u2013 who also wrote \u2018Guys and Dolls\u2019 and \u2018How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying\u2019 \u2013 is a quintessential 1950s musical. Big in heart and sweeping in its innocence, \u2018Happy Fella\u2019 is truly a musical from another time, an era when social strife, inequality, and other social ills never quite found their way onto the Broadway stage, and everyone lived happily ever after. Which is not to say, of course, that Theo Ubique\u2019s wonderful staging of \u2018Happy Fella\u2019 is hampered by those qualities. No: In this era of social strife, inequality, and considerable social ills, the unfettered positivity of \u2018Happy Fella\u2019 is just what the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n
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Set in California\u2019s Napa Valley, \u2018Happy Fella\u2019 follows the efforts of lovesick, hapless Tony (the supremely charming William Roberts), a middle-aged Italian immigrant who, despite being a successful (and well liked) farmer, yearns to fall in love and marry. After dining at a restaurant in San Francisco, Tony leaves a tie pin and note for his waitress, the pretty (and much younger) Rosabella (played by the likable, sympathetic Molly Hernandez). They strike up a correspondence, but when the time comes to exchange photographs, the older Tony, in fear of alienating his fledgling love, instead sends a picture of Joe, his very handsome foreman (played by very promising newcomer Ken Singleton).<\/p>\n
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And thus the plot of \u2018Happy Fella\u2019 goes in motion, though admittedly, Loesser\u2019s book is light on actual plotting. Rosabella, for instance, disappears through a huge chunk of the show\u2019s first act, and after Rosabella finally arrives at the farm to meet her new love \u2013 and initially falls for Joe, not her middle-aged suitor \u2013 the plot detail receives little attention, as Joe himself fades into the background for the show\u2019s second and third acts.<\/p>\n
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But it seems unfair to be nitpicky with the plot when Loesser\u2019s songs are so universally strong, and not just in the conventional Broadway sense. Sure, \u201cStanding on the Corner,\u201d \u201cThe Big D,\u201d and \u201cHow Beautiful the Days\u201d are firmly within the show tune tradition, but the strongest musical moments of \u2018Happy Fella\u2019 are when Loesser broadens his scope to include the harmonies and rhythms of Italian music. In addition to the Tony character, many of the farm-hands and side characters are Italian, and from \u201cAbbondanza,\u201d to \u201cSposalizio,\u201d to my favorite, \u201cBenvenuta,\u201d Loesser writes soaring songs that Theo Ubique\u2019s stellar cast \u2013 in those songs, Erik Dohner, Roy Brown, and Jonathan Wilson \u2013 sings with aplomb.<\/p>\n
And about the cast: there is not a weak voice among the large ensemble. From Courtney Jones, who as Cleo (Rosabella\u2019s best friend) brings a wry spunk to her songs, to Joe Giovannetti, who is instantly likable as the sunny Herman, to Roberts, who powerful, operatic voice adds a whole new level of sympathy to Tony.<\/p>\n
Similarly impressive is Fred Anzevino\u2019s direction and Jeremy Ramey\u2019s musical direction. The No Exit Cafe, which is where the show is performed, is not a large space, but Anzevino and Ramey use the space effectively, and incorporate dancing and choreography in a manner that never feels forced or awkward.<\/p>\n
All photos by Adam Veness<\/p>\n
Highly Recommended<\/b><\/p>\n
Playing through May 7 at the No Exit Caf\u00e9, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave<\/b><\/p>\n