Review: North Coast Rep's ‘Most Happy Fella' is dated but well-staged
Frank Loesser’s rarely performed musical “The Most Happy Fella” turns 70 this year. And just as Vista’s Moonlight Stage Productions unearthed it for a 50th anniversary production in 2006, North Coast Repertory Theatre has brought it back for a fresh staging that opened Saturday night in Solana Beach.
As a musical, “The Most Happy Fella” is dated and melodramatic. But director Jeffrey B. Moss has found imaginative ways to engage the audience, mine its humor, downsize its scale and do justice to its wide-ranging score.
When first staged on Broadway, “The Most Happy Fella” had a cast of 40 and a 36-piece orchestra. North Coast’s production has 12 actors and just two pianos, both played onstage by longtime local music directors/conductors Elan McMahan and Justin Gray. (Gray also steps away from the keyboard to play a photographer and a priest). And in place of a chorus for the choral number “Sposalizio,” Moss enlists the audience in a sing-along, with the lyrics projected onstage.
Set in California’s Napa Valley in 1927, “The Most Happy Fella” is the story of Tony, an aging Italian winemaker who falls in love with a young waitress he spots at a San Francisco diner and persuades her, through a series of pen-pal letters, to marry him.
To hide his advanced age, Tony catfishes the waitress he nicknames “Rosabella” by mailing her a photograph of Joe, his handsome young ranch foreman, rather than himself. Rosabella and Joe don’t realize Tony’s scheme until she quits her job and shows up at the vineyard in her wedding dress, suitcase in hand.
Loesser’s score is ambitious and diverse, with a discordant duet by Joe and Rosabella, lively Neapolitan-style songs by the Italian vineyeard workers, a beautifully harmonized barbershop quartet and some classic Broadway belter songs. Standout numbers include Rosabella-Joe duet “Aren’t You Glad,” the cowboy dance number “Big D,” the “Standing on the Corner” quartet and the song “Joey, Joey.”
Fortunately, the excellent cast at North Coast Rep can sing the challenging, near-operatic score.
The score is better than the book. Tony is an ethnic stereotype who speaks with an “atsa spicy meatball” Italian acccent and describes himself an ugly “wop.” Rosabella’s feelings for Tony seem to change at a breakneck pace, and the show’s tone often unexpectedly shifts between dark and broadly comic.
As Rosabella, Lauren Weinberg has a beautiful singing voice and she plays well her cornered and desperate character. And as the 60-something Tony, Gregory North crafts a character who is equal parts stubborn and manipulative, and kind and generous.
As the conflicted ranch manager Joe, Chris Hunter has a warm presence and rich baritone voice. Married actors Shinah and Andrew Hey energetically deliver the show’s best comic moments as the perfectly matched couple Cleo and Herman. And also entertaining are the comic Marx Brothers-like farm workers played by Jacob Caltrider, Eli Wood and Morgan Hollingsworth, who harmonize in song, juggle, play instruments and lead the audience sing-along.
Jason Maddy disappears into multiple roles including the sleazy diner owner, the jolly Napa depot manager who pre-reads everyone’s mail and the wise doctor who treats Tony after a car accident. Bethany Slomka is understated as Tony’s sister, Maria, who opposes the wedding. And Tori Hitchcock and Isabelle Pizzurro complete the cast as singing vineyard workers.
The 2-1/2-hour production features a barnlike scenic design by Marty Burnett, lighting by Matthew Novotny, costumes by Alina Bokovikova, sound by Tristan King and projections by Matt FitzGerald. Melissa Glasgow served as choreographer.
“The Most Happy Fella” may be an old story, but Moss has done a very good job giving it a fresh shine.
‘The Most Happy Fella'
When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through July 5.
Where: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach
Tickets: $68.50-$90.50
Phone: 858-481-1055
Online: northcoastrep.org
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.