About the work
The Most Happy Fella is a near-operatic musical for which Frank Loesser single-handedly wrote the music, lyrics and book. It is based on Sidney Howard's play "They Knew What They Wanted" and premiered on Broadway in 1956. With more than thirty musical numbers – from arias and duets to folksy songs – the work blurs the line between musical and opera and ranks among the most ambitious American music-theatre works of its time.
Plot
Tony, an ageing Italian-American vintner from the Napa Valley, falls in love from afar with the waitress Rosabella and begins a correspondence with her. Unsure about his age, he sends her a photo of his handsome young foreman Joe instead. When Rosabella travels to the farm for the wedding and the deception is exposed, she is deeply hurt – and, in her distress, gives in to a night with Joe. Despite disappointment, pride and a pregnancy, genuine affection gradually grows between Tony and Rosabella, until both learn to forgive each other and embrace a shared future.
Cultural significance
With its fusion of Broadway songs and operatic ambition, The Most Happy Fella holds a special place in the American musical and is performed by opera houses and musical theatres alike. Popular numbers such as the a cappella quartet "Standing on the Corner" and the rollicking "Big D" became hits in their own right. Loesser's rich, emotionally dense score is regarded by many as his masterpiece and as a bridge between the golden age of the musical and American opera.