Most Happy in Concert: Daniel Fish's Concert Version of Frank Loesser's "The Most Happy Fella"

An all-female cast does a magnificent job with songs from Loesser's 1956 Broadway Show

Having had enough with the Opinions of the far-right wing Supreme Court and watched while the January 6 Committee of the House does the best presentation of a case against a former president while the Department of Justice, with many times the number of attorneys and FBI agents as the members and professional staff of the House Committee has, DOJ appeared to do very little investigating the Crime of the Century which occurred before our eyes a year and a half ago, I decided to head north to the Berkshires of Massachusetts for an injection of music, art and theater. It has been the elixir needed to restore the spirit.

On Saturday, I first visited The Clark, in Williamstown, the home of Williams College, the magnificent and well- endowed art museum originally created to house the art collection of the Clarks, the owners of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. It has expanded over the years in terms of the collection and its buildings, but everything always in the best of taste. Having seen the collection many times, I focused on the superb show entitled “Rodin in the United States.” It presents many of Rodin’s original drawings, preliminary castings and final bronze sculptures. Balzac is there in his tall and dark magnificence. The Thinker and the Kiss are there too along with preliminary versions.

I would highly recommend the Rodin show, but also see the marvelous collection of European Art from the 1500s to the present as well as impressive American Art. If you are a fan of the Impressionists, they are well represented. Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Winslow Homer are two painters whose works are plentiful as well as stunning. Renoir with his reds and Homer with his dark, stormy seas.

********************

Then I went the short distance to the Williamstown Theater Festival for its production of Daniel Fish’s “Most Happy in Concert” an adaptation of the lyrics and music from Frank Loesser’s 1956 production of the play, “The Most Happy Fella.” The most striking change from Loesser’s production is that it has an all -female cast, which is a challenge in a play about a “Happy Fella”.

But the seven-woman cast carries it off with power, feeling, bravado, romance and softness and a true enthusiasm for performing for the audience. For comparison purposes I listened to the 1956 Original Broadway Cast Recording, the London Cast Recording, and several In-Studio versions from various artists. In all honesty having been able to compare all the versions, I can tell you that when some smart producers take this production to Broadway, and I firmly believe that with, little modifications, it “has legs” and will be Broadway bound, so you can either come to Williamstown or wait for Broadway production, and then hear the seven ladies belt out with great enthusiasm, “Standing on the Corner.” These seven ladies outdo the male casts by leaps and bounds, and you will find yourself toe tapping to the riveting beat as the ladies put there all in carrying the song far better than any of the males I listened to. Fish has orchestrated “Standing on the Corner” in a slightly jazzier version, and the ladies give it all their all. It is the show stopper.

“Big D” is another winner as is “The Most Happy Fella.” But I was momentarily taken back to the January 6 Committee’s production with the ladies’ version of “Maybe He’s Kinda Crazy.”

Two real stars of the show are Mallory Portnoy and Mary Testa. They both have innate charm and boldness and are established actors with marvelous voices. Both of them also appeared in Fish’s adaptation of “Oklahoma” which got Fish a Tony nomination. All the cast have very strong and controlled voices. Other members of the sterling cast of singers are: Tina Fabrique, Maya Lagerstam, Erin Maskey, April Matthis, and Kiena Williams.

Laura Collins-Hughes wrote a review of “Most Happy in Concert” in the New York Times of July 20, 2022. Though I agree with her on many observations, I disagree that the audience was confused by the show as though it did not have the typical musical format of a story played out with interspersed songs. Collins-Hughes seemed to miss the story tying together the songs, but after all it is titled “Most Happy in Concert.” So rather than her search for some mystery, I took it for what it said it was, a Concert version.

Collins-Hughes also got a little hung up on the meaning of females singing male roles. Is there some deep message in the casting, she asks. To me it fit like a glove, and not an O J Simpson non-fitting glove. I took it for what it is seven, beautiful and highly talented women singing songs with more vigor and harmony than their all male predecessors.

The production will continue on the Williamstown Theater Festival Main Stage until July 31, 2022. If you are intrigued, get your tickets now before they sell-out. After that, perhaps a producer call and not a casting call is in order.