The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the 1924 play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. The show is described by some theatre historians and critics as operatic. The original Broadway production ran for 14 months and it has enjoyed several revivals, including one staged by the New York City Opera.
It was broadcast in a live telecast of The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday, October 28, 1956, the night of Elvis Presley's second appearance on that show. That broadcast was seen in some 168 stations in North America and garnered a 34.6 rating, a 57% share, with an estimated audience of 56.5 million viewers., as per Trendex, the precursor of Nielsen
Background and history A friend of Frank Loesser's recommended the Howard play They Knew What They Wanted as material for a musical in 1952. After he read it, Loesser agreed it had musical potential, but decided to omit the political, labor, and religious material. It took him four years to complete the musical.Green, pp. 266-267
The Most Happy Fella frequently has been described as an opera, but some have qualified the term."Review, New York City Opera", backstage.com, accessed 20 August 2009"The music-the more operatic stuff ..." Simon, John. (16 September 1991). "Good Fella", The New York Magazine, p. 66 In his book The World of Musical Comedy, Stanley Green noted that the musical is "one of the most ambitiously operatic works ever written for the Broadway theatre ... Loesser said 'I may give the impression this show has operatic tendencies. If people feel that way – fine. Actually all it has is a great frequency of songs. It's a musical with music.' " In an article in the Playbill Magazine for the original Broadway production, Loesser wrote, "What was left seemed to me to be a very warm simple love story, happy ending and all, and dying to be sung and danced."Block, Geoffrey. (2004). Enchanted Evenings. Oxford University Press US. . p. 216 Brooks Atkinson, theatre critic (The New York Times), called it a "music drama", noting Loesser "has now come about as close to opera as the rules of Broadway permit."Atkinson, Brooks. (4 May 1956). "Theatre: Loesser's Fine Music Drama". The New York Times, p. 20 Composer, conductor, and musical theatre teacher Lehman Engel and critic/author Howard Kissel called it a "fresh musical (perhaps opera)".Engel, Lehman; Kissel, Howard (2006). Words with Music: Creating the Broadway Musical Libretto. Hal Leonard Corporation. , p. 295 Music Theatre International describes the show: "Filled with sweeping ballads, intense dramatic arias and tuneful, splashy Broadway-style numbers, this ambitious "Broadway opera" has found a home on opera and musical-theatre stages alike."The Most Happy Fella Music Theatre International, retrieved July 24, 2018
A film version was planned in 1962, to be produced by Warner Bros. with Shirley Jones and Fred Astaire set to star. However, Jones was busy making The Music Man for Warner Bros., so she was dropped and Natalie Wood was brought in. Wood was also busy though, making Gypsy for Warner Bros.. Astaire downright refused to participate in the project, but came back to the studio to make Finian's Rainbow. The film never came to fruition. A revival of the film was discussed in the 1980s, but never got anywhere.
Synopsis Act 1 In the Golden Gate Restaurant in San Francisco in 1927, tired and harassed young waitress Cleo commiserates with her friend. Cleo's feet hurt ("Ooh My Feet") and her friend has had to fend off the cashier's advances ("I Know How It Is"). As they clean up ("Seven Million Crumbs"), Cleo's friend finds a jeweled tie pin and a note addressed to the friend as "Rosabella", written in odd broken English ("I Don't Know (The Letter)"). She decides to answer, thinking of the possibilities ("Somebody, Somewhere").
In Napa, the mailman has a letter for Tony Esposito, who has been enjoying a "mail order love affair" for the past four months. Tony, a large and hearty older Italian immigrant and a successful grape farmer, happily shows the crowd the picture of his "girlfriend" ("The Most Happy Fella"). Meek farmhand Herman expresses admiration of his boss's initiative in pursuing Rosabella ("Standing on the Corner"). But as Tony prepares to send his own picture in return, his sister Marie points out that he is too old and unattractive for a beautiful young woman like Rosabella, and he accepts that she is probably right. At that moment Joe, the young, handsome and nomadic farm foreman, arrives to tell Tony that he plans to leave town and travel somewhere else ("Joey, Joey, Joey"). Tony sees his opportunity and asks Joe for a photograph as a memento, then sends it as his own to his beloved ("Rosabella").
Several weeks later, Rosabella has agreed to come to Napa and marry Tony ("Abbondanza"), but as he prepares to leave for the bus station to collect her, imagining their future together ("Plenty Bambini"), he discovers to his horror that Joe has remained in town longer than planned to attend the wedding ("Spozalizio"). Rosabella arrives at the farm with the postman ("Special Delivery," "Benvenuta") and meets Joe ("Aren't You Glad?"), only to discover that he is not Tony. Upset at the subterfuge, she starts to leave. However, Tony has been injured in a truck accident en route to the bus station, and he pleads with Rosabella to stay and marry him immediately in case he does not live. She relents ("No Home, No Job") and they marry. Joe, who now must stay to run the ranch during Tony's convalescence, is upset but tries to comfort her ("Don't Cry"), and in a moment of mutual weakness they embrace.
Act 2 A week later ("Fresno Beauties"), Joe and Rosabella regret their indiscretion ("Cold and Dead"), and at the encouragement of Tony's doctor ("Love and Kindness"), the newlywed couple makes a fresh start ("Happy to Make Your Acquaintance"). Cleo arrives in Napa, revealing that Tony has sent for her and offered her a job to keep Rosabella company, and she immediately takes a dislike to Marie ("I Don't Like This Dame") but hits it off with fellow Texan Herman ("Big D"). As time passes, Tony and Rosabella grow closer, Marie feels increasingly lonely, and Joe longs to travel again ("How Beautiful the Days"). Marie tries to convince Tony that the age difference between him and Rosabella is too great ("Young People"), and he believes her even though Rosabella herself indicates otherwise ("Warm All Over"). Cleo and Herman also grow closer, though she is frustrated by his passive, compliant nature ("I Like Everybody"). She urges Rosabella to tell Tony of her feelings, as Tony is treating her like a child rather than a wife ("I Love Him/I Know How it Is"). Tony, overjoyed by Rosabella's expression of love ("Like a Woman Loves a Man"), discards his cane ("My Heart Is So Full of You"). Later Rosabella collapses at a party ("Hoedown"), and the doctor tells her she is pregnant (with Joe's child). She is upset by this news, and Cleo rushes her away before she can tell the still-overjoyed Tony ("Mamma, Mamma").
Act 3 In Tony's barn a short time later, Cleo hints to Herman that she may be leaving ("Goodbye, Darlin'") but he remains unbelievingly cheerful, to her frustration. As the preparations for the wedding party are taking place, the doctor asks the community to leave the couple alone for a little while ("Song of a Summer Night"). Rosabella tells Tony she is pregnant ("Please Let Me Tell You"). Tony rejects her in a rage when she reveals that Joe is the father. She and Cleo leave to return to San Francisco, but when Tony learns that Joe is leaving as well, he concludes that they are leaving together and rushes to the bus station with a gun to confront them. When he discovers that Joe has already left ("Tell Tony and Rosabella Goodbye for Me"), however, he resolves to forgive her ("She Gonna Come Home Wit' Me"). Marie begs her brother to let her go ("Nobody's Ever Gonna Love You") and snatches away his cane to prevent him from leaving, but Cleo attacks her and grabs it back. Brutish farmhand Pasquale intervenes in the struggle, and Herman finally finds the nerve to stand up for her by striking Pasquale ("I Made a Fist"). Tony convinces Rosabella to return to their home, where they will tell their friends and the townspeople Tony is the father. Reunited with Rosabella and soon to be a father, Tony affirms that he truly is "the most happy fella." ("Finale").
Song list
Act I "Overture" – Orchestra "Ooh! My Feet!" – Cleo "I Know How It Is" – Cleo "The Letter" – Rosabella "Maybe He's Kind of Crazy" – Rosabella "Somebody, Somewhere" – Rosabella "The Most Happy Fella" – Tony and Company "The Letter Theme" – Marie and Tony "Standing on the Corner" – Herman, Jake, Clem and Al "Joey, Joey, Joey" – Joe "Soon You Gonna Leave Me, Joe" – Tony "Rosabella" – Tony "Abbondanza" – Pasquale, Giuseppe and Ciccio "Plenty Bambini" – Tony "Sposalizio" – Giuseppe, Ciccio, Pasquale and Company "Special Delivery!" – The Postman "Benvenuta" – Pasquale, Ciccio and Giuseppe "Aren't You Glad?" – Rosabella "No Home, No Job" – Rosabella "Eyes like a Stranger" – Marie "Don't Cry" – Joe
Act II "Prelude Act II" "Fresno Beauties" / "Cold and Dead" – Ensemble, Joe and Rosabella "Love and Kindness" – The Doctor "Happy to Make Your Acquaintance" – Tony, Rosabella and Cleo "I Don't Like This Dame" – Marie and Cleo "Big D" – Herman, Cleo and Ensemble "How Beautiful the Days" – Tony, Rosabella and Joe "Young People" – Marie, Tony and Ensemble "Warm All Over" – Rosabella "Old People" – Tony "I Like Everybody" – Herman and Cleo "I Love Him" / "I Know How It Is (Reprise)" – Rosabella and Cleo "Like a Woman Loves a Man" – Rosabella and Tony "My Heart Is So Full of You" – Tony and Rosabella "Hoedown" – Orchestra "Mamma, Mamma" – Tony
Act III "Prelude Act III" "Abbondanza (Reprise)" – Pasquale, Giuseppe and Ciccio "Goodbye, Darlin'" / "I Like Everybody (Reprise)" – Cleo and Herman "Song of a Summer Night" – The Doctor and Ensemble "Please Let Me Tell You" – Rosabella "Tell Tony and Rosabella Goodbye for Me" – Joe "She Gonna Come Home Wit' Me" – Tony "Nobody's Ever Gonna Love You" – Marie and Tony "I Made a Fist" – Cleo and Herman "Finale" – Tony, Rosabella and Ensemble
Productions Try-outs The try-out of The Most Happy Fella opened in Boston on Tuesday, March 13, 1956, at the Shubert Theatre to good reviews."At the Theatre 'The Most Happy Fella' Opens" The Boston Globe Wednesday, March 14, 1956, p. 42. The show then moved to Philadelphia for a try-out at the Shubert Theatre, opening on Tuesday, April 10, 1956, also to good notices."'The Most Happy Fella' New Musical at Shubert" The Philadelphia Inquirer, Wednesday, April 11, 1956, p. 41.
Original Broadway production Directed by Joseph Anthony and choreographed by Dania Krupska, the original Broadway production was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden and Lynn Loesser and opened on May 3, 1956 at the Imperial Theatre, transferred to the Broadway Theatre on October 21, 1957 and closed on December 14, 1957 after 676 performances. The cast included Robert Weede as Tony, Jo Sullivan as Rosabella, Art Lund as Joey, Susan Johnson as Cleo, Shorty Long – the country and not the soul singer – as Herman and Mona Paulee as Marie. The future dancer and actress Zina Bethune appeared as Tessie, one of the children in the ensemble. The scenic and lighting design was by Jo Mielziner.
The original production was partially bankrolled by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. (See "In Popular Culture", below.)
Subsequent productions