A ‘MOST HAPPY’ MUSICAL REVIVAL IN PASADENA

Who’s a most happy fella?

Gary Davis, artistic director of the new California Music Theatre, is one. So is Lars Hansen, managing director of the group. And so, perhaps, is John Raitt, who stars in the company’s inaugural production of Frank Loesser’s 1956 “The Most Happy Fella” (opening today at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium).

“The (Civic) Center has this gorgeous theater: 2,965 seats and built for big shows--though since 1980 it’s only had two musicals, and they were very short runs,” said Davis, 40.

“Oh, they rent it out for things like gem conventions and probably do a very tidy business, but the fact is that the theater itself doesn’t get used very often. To a city the size of Pasadena, with the cultural venues it has--from the Huntington Library to the Norton Simon Museum--obviously, there’s a lot of interest here. They really should have their own light opera.”

It’s a form that Davis (who grew up in West Covina and graduated from Occidental College, “always knowing I wanted to teach and direct”) clearly relishes.

“The potential for touching people and moving them is very strong in musical theater. Of course, it’s not there in every show; some are very fluffy and shallow. But look at ‘Most Happy Fella.’ It’s an extension of the play ‘They Knew What They Wanted,’ and that was moving anyway: (about) people who didn’t have the self-confidence to say what was on their minds, who knew what they wanted but not how to go about (getting) it--the way so many of us live our lives.

“I’ve always felt that there are certain emotions, feelings, a certain height you get to, where the only way to express it is to take it to that other dimension and add music.”

There is another common thread among the season’s four entries (“Fella,” “Call Me Madam,” “The Desert Song,” “She Loves Me”): They are lesser-known musicals.

“These are all classics from the American stage,” Davis said. “They’re just not as frequently produced as some of the old warhorses: ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ ‘Man of La Mancha,’ ‘Sound of Music,’ ‘My Fair Lady’. . . . Of course, we’re pragmatic--that’s true of any light opera (company). We’re not going to present something we don’t think is going to be popular. That’s the bottom line.”

And keeping to that bottom line is always on Davis’ mind.

“There are three ways you can do this,” he said, “fast, good or cheap. You can always have two, but never all three. If you rush it, it’s going to be fast and cheap, but not good. If you take your time, it can be good and cheap.” They have obviously chosen to pursue the latter path, opting for frugality--and active networking.

Davis believes that 20 years of preparation (in addition to his California Music Theatre duties, he teaches at Mt. San Antonio College) has helped him handle the new terrain.

In terms of divvying up the duties, “Lars is in charge of day-to-day operations, signing checks, sales and promotion--though virtually everything we’ve done has been a joint effort. And while the actual production of the show is my bailiwick, he’s got to sell it, so we sit down and talk about each major casting decision.

“We need to be sure the person can sell tickets. On the other hand, we don’t want to hire a star for a show just because his name is going to draw people to the theater. We want to be sure he can deliver.

“There are lot of musical theater stars here now,” he said. “JoAnne Worley (who will star in “Madam”), Hal Linden, Joel Higgins, Shirley Jones. And these are not roles that just anybody can do. For ‘Desert Song,’ you need 40 top-to-bottom wonderful legitimate voices. It’s tough to put that together, but not impossible--especially in L.A.”

Davis is confident that he, too, can deliver.

“Both Lars and I had reached a point in our careers where it was time to work for ourselves,” Davis said. “We’ll make the mistakes--and we’ll do things right. But we’ll be doing it. If it’s a battle, it’s a fun battle. It’s doing what you want to do.”