The Most Happy Fella

The prospect was pretty ugly.

Tony, a balding Mario Lanza who didn't speak much English, had come over from the old country and made a killing on the California wine market. When the pressure of business subsided, middle-aged Tony saw he needed a woman, and sure enough, some pretty little Frisco waitress sends him a post-card professing love. On his way to the village railway station to meet her, Tony is drunk with triumph and a good deal of his own vino. His truck crashes, Tony is hurt, and henceforth is confined to a wheel-chair. He entreats his dear, departed but heaven-bound Mama (who apparently materializes for Tony somewhere in the vacant last four rows of the second balcony) for guidance. Tony then sings an ode about how "Young People Dance, Old People Watch," and the chorus grab their girls and have a ball all over the stage. His bride now takes up with the hired hand--she has fainting spells late in the second act. Aha. The hired hand runs away, Tony is mad, but then he sees the light. Who'll ever know? A tribute to his resourcefulness! He's not proud, not'a Tony.

How Frank Loesser could ever hope to get away with this offensive drivel, based on Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted, is mystifying. But he does, with some success, and the achievement is a tribute to his resourcefulness. The Loesser book is virtually non-existent, his music often ordinary, and his lyrics scarcely distinguished. However, the production itself, directed by Joseph Anthony, is lavish and superbly polished. Though the play lacks the three or four show-stopping songs which make a musical into a classic, through its immensity of scope and professional flashiness, it is a success.

None of the Loesser score is truly bad, and the middling level of the music is sustained throughout. The most satisfying songs are written for vocal trios or quartets or the entire ensemble. Probably the best, which may well be disk-jockey bait, is "Standing on the Corner, Watching the Girls Go By." Other good tunes include "La Pudanza," "Happy to Make Your Acquaintance," and "I don't Know Nothing About Her." The rest are generally dull, and because the show has no pretension to comedy, the production must lean heavily on its music.

Tony, as played by Robert Weede, is robust and never really very down-drodden, which is pleasing because in a musical no one ever wants to be sad anyway. Weede's voice of course is quite adequate, and he avoids over-doing a potentially obnoxious role.

The other singers display considerable versatility. Jo Sullivan, as Rosabella the sometime bride, is rather shrill in attempting to combine vivacity with shame. Morley Meredith, the well-meaning, and over-masculine hired hand, is strapping, restless, and insensitive, as he should be. The strength of the cast comes mostly from a huge roster of chorus and incidental players, all in good voice and enthusiasm.

Jo Mielziner, creator of sets and lighting, extraordinary, adds another triumph to the growing list of shows he has decorated this season. The stage displays a variety and imagination which would be difficult to achieve in a less professional show. The entire production has a Radio-City sheen that is often hard to resist. A couple more rousing songs, and some chopping of the dull ones, would raise the material to the technical level of the production.