Addition to Review of “Most Happy in Concert”

Let me add a few items to my review of the delightful “Most Happy in Concert.”

I neglected to mention Erin Markey who has a captivating personality and a strong and dynamic voice. She played a critical role in the entire company's singing of “Standing on the Corner” as she provided strong emphasis to the lyrics as she belted out the lines aiding the jazz beat. She and Mary Testa were the lead singers on “Maybe He’s Kinda Crazy” And Erin and April Matthis, Mallory Portnoy, and Tina Fabrique were the singers on the rollicking hit, “Big D” which stays in your head long after the show is over. Kiena Williams carried the introspective “Somebody Somewhere. The whole company sang Joey Joey Joey.

I made one mistake in my review saying David Fish did the orchestrations when it was actually Daniel Kluger. Hats off to him.

I also neglected to note that the production has a live group of musicians accompanying the singers. These very skilled musicians, who remain hidden until the company takes well deserved bows, are: Owen Broder, Julie Dombrowski, Nick Frenay, Annabelle Hoffman, Patrick Laslie, Dan Pugach, Zach Brown, Hector Falcon, Sarah Haines, Robert Jost, Shu Odamura, and Saki Uetsuhara. A special round of applause for the musicians who were critical to making this a full bodied presentation.

I also neglected to mention that Jawole Willa Jo Zollar did an excellent job as choreographer.

Another interesting feature of the show was that you could see the stage hands controlling the ropes and connections to the overhead objects which included long ribbons of metallic gold and lighting that came down to highlight singers in various songs. The stage was essentially bear as in a production of Thornton Wilder’s “ Our Town,”but the overhead lights, golden ribbons and lighting were brought into position by the visible stage hands. So when the company took their bows, the stage hands got a separate ovation, well deserved.

As you can see this is not a standard concert or theater presentation, rather it is unique and as the New York Times reviewer said, experimental.

I hope that producers come forward and bring this show to Broadway as it deserves a wider audience. But you can still get tickets to the Williamstown production for performances up to July 31, 2022. If I hear of future stagings , I’ll post an update.

So I left the theater myself being The Most Happy Fella.