The Most Happy FellaProgram Cover
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Review By Ernest Edwards
This was my first time seeing the musical The Most Happy Fella and attending a Ten Thousand Things production. I do remember having a cast recording from a Broadway revival in the 1990’s. The only song I recognized was “Standing on the Corner”. It’s nice to see a classic musical for the first time.
The Most Happy Fella is another musical by Frank Loesser, who is also known for the musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
A fun fact that I learned about Ten Thousand Things is that they take their shows on tour around the Twin Cities and the great state of Minnesota. I got to see the musical in the Performance Hall at Open Book in downtown Minneapolis. A cast of seven actors play all the characters and are also the part of the musicians for the musical.
The musical takes place in Northern California in 1927. Rosabella is working as a waitress in a San Francisco cafe and agrees to be a mail order bride for Tony Esposito. She doesn’t realize that Tony used the photo of Joe, his foreman. Tony was ashamed of the age difference. Rosabella does grow to love Tony. Tony hires for friend Cleo to also work at the vineyard.
The cast really stands out for this wonderful production. Tony is played by Pedro R. Bayon, Rosabella is played by Susie Juul, Joe is played by Sasha Andreev, Cleo is played by Julia Diaz, Marie (Tony’s Sister) is played by Norah Long, the rest of the cast includes Phinehas Bynum and Maje Adams.
I liked the staging of this production. With minimum sets and costumes, you really get drawn into the story and performances of the cast. The intimate staging of an arena stage in the Performance Hall was a great fit for The Most Happy Fella.
This musical plays through June 7, 2029. Check out www.tenthousandthings.org for tickets and locations/venues.
