UCO showcases beautiful ‘Fella’
Accompanied by an ensemble of talented singers and dancers, the principals delivered a complicated and intricate show. White and music director Mariann Searle presented the entire show without cuts: three acts and nearly three hours.
Frank Loesser’s 1956 musical “The Most Happy Fella” was given a rousing and beautiful production Oct. 5-7 at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Mitchell Hall Theatre.
Directed by Greg White, the production of this historic and, for its time, groundbreaking show delivered on all levels. The show demands operatic voices in the leading roles, while other roles are more focused for character-type song styling. While this variety can be daunting for some companies, excellent training showed in every voice on the Mitchell stage.
The production featured graduate student Sean Steele in the leading role of Tony Esposito, an older man who is a successful vineyard owner in Napa Valley, and Sonnet Lamb as the young woman he calls "Rosabella." Tony meets her in San Francisco and, after several months of correspondence, brings her to his home as a bride.
Steele produced a strong and resonant vocal expression for Tony. His baritone color helped produce the illusion of maturity in an otherwise young actor. Lamb’s clear soprano voice delivered a sense of purity and virtue in a character who is, by her own admission, a bit of a fallen flower. These two characters, as written by Loesser both vocally and textually, show their true natures in their musical expressions, which often belie the text. This layered approach gives these roles richer and more profound dimension.
Cleo and Herman, on the other hand, are as honestly written as their characters are revealed to be. Cleo, Rosabella’s friend, is a world-weary waitress with a taste for energetic men. Herman, the often bullied but good-natured farmhand, is relentlessly positive and optimistic. Sierra Sikes played Cleo with an innocent worldliness that matched and balanced Dylan Herrin’s portrayal of Herman’s guileless experience. As they move through the story, Cleo and Herman become more involved with each other, and both characters develop some new awareness over the course of the story.
Greg Gore played Joe, the roving farmhand with an eye for the ladies but no wish to settle down, who creates trouble for everyone without any intent to do so. Like all of Loesser’s characters, Joe is more complex than meets the eye. His dark bassbaritone delivery suggests the classic antagonist, but again, Loesser has used the voice to lead and mislead the audience.
In the role of alternate foil, Jaci Reed as Marie, Tony’s sister, delivered a thoughtful and nuanced performance of a loving sister whose devotion to her brother has made her a possessive and lonely woman. She eventually is confronted by Cleo and must accept that her brother is happy with his wife.
Accompanied by an ensemble of talented singers and dancers, the principals delivered a complicated and intricate show. White and music director Mariann Searle presented the entire show without cuts: three acts and nearly three hours. The time flew due to the excellent staging by White and choreography by Amy Reynolds-Reed.
All production values were high; Alyssa Courtier-Herndon’s costumes were period appropriate, as well as colorful and eye-catching. Lighting designer Matt Avra created time and location, including some lovely morning and evening skies, with colors of light. Scenic designer Kristy Benson’s simple but detailed sets gave us a secure sense of place.
For future UCO theatrical productions, go tocfad.uco.edu.