Guys and Dolls Orpheum St Paul Mn Review
Bill Marshall and Sarah Lawrence in the Skylark Opera Theatre production of The Almost Happy Fella, at present playing at the Mounds Theatre in St. Paul, MN. Photo courtesy of Skylark Opera Theatre.
What would you get if Frank Loesser of Guys and Dolls fame decided to write an opera? You'd become The About Happy Fella, Loesser's operetta poking fun at opera tropes with a side order of sordid backstory. (Loesser and his first married woman divorced shortly after the show opened on Broadway, after which he married the show's female lead.) The bear witness has some beautiful and clever writing, including a few pieces that, like Guys and Dolls's "Fugue for Tinhorns", are really thrown into the score just to charm and show off.
Skylark Opera Theatre'south production of this less commonly performed piece opened Friday at the Mounds Theatre in St. Paul. The production has something of a summertime stock feel to it, recycling some elements and cast members from the company's contempo Così fan tutte in the same space. 2 onstage pianos provide the accompaniment.
Musically, much is lost with this two-piano rendition. Although Loesser approved this arrangement for a 1991 product at Goodspeed Opera House, yous'd be hard-pressed in the Mounds Theatre to hear anything that requires more than one person at the keyboard. The placement of both pianos upstage, players facing the audition, contributes to a full general clunkiness and lack of nuance in the audio – there interplay betwixt the pianos simply is not audible in the received sound. Rotating them 90 degrees in opposite directions and opening the lids would accept given a much stronger stereo image, allowing the colors of the corresponding instruments to smoothen through. Why is this of import? Considering much of the songs lacked a certain pizzaz and thrust normally provided by the pit – most notably in Act I, while the slow establishing plot is beingness laid out. It'due south not that this couldn't provided by two pianos, but information technology wasn't.
The plot of The Most Happy Fella is substantially a mail-order bride story, with the older Italian immigrant Tony (an fantabulous Bill Marshall) enticing the waitress Rosabella (Sarah Lawrence) via letter to come to his Napa Valley ranch and marry him. Naturally, it's not all smooth sailing and California sunsets – ane of which, in an obviously adventitious bit of lighting, ends up looking more hellish than heavenly. Plot-wise, Tony has used a photo of his good-looking ranch manager Joe (Justin Spenner) in his correspondence, giving the story has a surprising amount of resonance with the trials and tribulations of online dating today.
Skylark'south production is at its best in 2 places: the minor, intimate moments betwixt Tony and Rosabella in Deed Two, and the over-the-pinnacle, exuberant scenes between Laurel Armstrong and Phinehas Bynum, who play Texans-out-of-water Cleo and Herman. Their duet "Big D" is funny, thrilling, and devilishly executed. Plus, given the normal tropes, information technology's practically novel these days to run across Texas being celebrated on phase in a non-ironic way.
A place where the production seems less steady on its feet is playing Rosabella's fish-out-of-water discomfort when she showtime arrives at Tony'south ranch. Bob Neu's direction makes the scene comes beyond every bit if Rosabella fears that she's almost to be assaulted, much more so than anything indicated in the script. This particular play on vulnerability is, at the least, distracting. Further, the aloofness of the other characters involved threatens the suspension of disbelief.
These bumps non withstanding, in that location is a strong payoff in Act Two, when Tony and Rosabella slowly fall in love for real. Their duet "My Center Is And so Full of You" is executed in a manner guaranteed to ship your heart a-flutter, and their musical flirtations before that are pretty fun, besides.
Unlike his better-known shows, Loesser'southward The Most Happy Fella probably isn't going to send you lot out of the theatre humming a favorite tune. It is some pleasant listening in the moment, though – but exercise come early on to mark your seats, considering the open up seating is not a characteristic if yous're non in that location at least fifteen minutes in advance.
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The Most Happy Fellaplays at the Historic Mounds Theatre in St. Paul, MN through Oct 20.
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Basil Considine is the Editor of the Twin Cities Arts Reader. He served every bit Performing Arts Editor and Senior Classical Music and Drama Critic for the Arts Reader's first five years before succeeding Hanne Appelbaum. He was previously the Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic at the Twin Cities Daily Planet and remains an occasional contributing writer for The Boston Musical Intelligencer and The Chattanoogan. He holds a PhD in Music and Drama from Boston University, an MTS in Sacred Music from the BU School of Theology, and a BA in Music and Theatre from the University of San Diego.
Basil was named one of Musical America'southward 30 Professionals of the Yr in 2017. He was previously the Regional Governor for the National Opera Association's Northward Key Region.
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Source: https://twincitiesarts.com/2019/10/14/review-pleasant-low-calorie-most-happy-fella-skylark-opera-theatre/
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