O.C. THEATER REVIEW : A Fine Ol’ ‘Fella’ to Get to Know

Time isn’t kind to most musicals, but it’s treating Frank Loesser’s 37-year-old “Most Happy Fella” very kindly indeed.

Two years ago, the Goodspeed Opera House’s landmark revival (which visited Los Angeles on its way to Broadway) suggested that this was a great musical rescued from the dead. A special quality of that revival (besides Spiro Malas in the title role) was its resurrection of Loesser’s two-piano score arrangement, and one might have assumed that subsequent revivers would do likewise, if only for economy’s sake.

But the glistening Fullerton Civic Light Opera Company production, directed by Gary Gordon at the Plummer Auditorium, emphatically proves the brilliance of “Fella” while, ironically, getting rid of Loesser’s minimalist score.

Instead, we get a full orchestra--which probably was inevitable, considering that the good burghers of Fullerton just spent nearly $3 million refurbishing, repainting and respiffing the old Plummer, adding (among other things) a big orchestra pit that can be raised and lowered. (And just to show that it can, the tech crew raises and then lowers it during the overture). Why put in something like that, and then just set up two pianos?

Very rewarding thinking, as it turns out. While the duo piano sound lent a surprising, often-gripping chamber-like counterpoint to this sprawling romance set in the California wine country in the ‘20s, the full orchestra arrangement probably is a better fit.

With either, though, this clearly is one of Loesser’s greater achievements. Based on Sidney Howard’s “They Knew What They Wanted,” the tale of ranch owner Tony Esposito and the mail-order bride he calls “Rosabella” (Tracey Williams) is far more suited to the grand gestures of a musical than to Howard’s penned-in play. It is precisely the near-operetta form of “Happy Fella” that allows the big passions to fill this Napa Valley world. With the aid of depth-of-field landscape scenery (reportedly borrowed from the Goodspeed), the feeling of this show is that of a Cinemascope movie from the ‘50s.

The big sound coming from musical director/conductor Todd Helm’s nicely balanced orchestra bolsters the big-screen feeling wonderfully. At crucial moments, the orchestra enters the action. During, for instance, the departure-by-train of Rosabella’s lover Joe, the orchestra becomes the off-stage train, chug-chug-chugging away like the sound of destiny. Two pianos never could have accomplished such an effect.

Watching this production, one can’t help but wonder why this musical was obscure for so long. Indeed, this “Most Happy Fella” single-handedly fills in the gap between the cerebral beauty of Stephen Sondheim and the lavish emptiness of Andrew Lloyd Webber. It swings effortlessly between the high emotions of Rosabella’s terrible dilemmas (Can she love an old man like Tony? Can she tell him that he’s not the father of her baby?) and the high comedy of Rosabella’s pal Cleo (a winning Lisa Robinson), her wimpy cowboy beau Herman (goofily perfect Sam Zeller) and those charming singing chefs (the lyrical Rafael Duran, Scott Watanabe and Steve Grabe).

The enormous mood shifts and the rich display of musical styles (from the broadness of “Ooh! My Feet” to the introspective “How Beautiful the Days”) not only lend “Most Happy Fella” uncommon substance but make any staging of it a daunting high-wire act.

Stan Throneberry’s superb, hearty (and richly sung) Tony anchors things crucially. Tony’s deep goodness and decency (he needs Rosabella’s love but understands that she needs a young, spirited mate) are the real thing, not the saccharine stuff of countless musical fantasies.

With his bitter old-maid sister Marie (played with a chill by Jo Monteleone) forever reminding him of his vulnerabilities, Tony teeters on the edge of suicide. But--as Joe reminds Rosabella--how many other guys have so many friends that they can fill his back yard? Tony loves life too much to snuff himself out, and Throneberry turns the inner struggle into a cathartic victory.

Williams is an even more affecting Rosabella than Mary Gordon was in the Goodspeed revival: This time, Rosabella’s self-discoveries are suffused with real operatic power. And, as in “Oklahoma!,” even with the crises, there’s always a party going on--the swings of life’s pendulum contained on a stage. With Sha Newman’s clean choreography, Donna Ruzika’s textured lights, Sherry Linnel’s working-class costumes and Gordon’s sure pacing, Loesser’s pendulum swings with handsome grace and epic breadth. It is hard to imagine more from any musical, or any civic light opera company.

* “The Most Happy Fella,” Plummer Auditorium, 201 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 31. $13-26. (714) 526-3832. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes. Stan Throneberry: Tony

Tracey Williams: Rosabella

Robert Patteri: Joe

Jo Monteleone: Marie

Lisa Robinson: Cleo

Sam Zeller: Herman

David Booth: Clem

John Ferdenzi: Jake

Bill Gorin: Al

Rafael Duran: Giuseppe

Scott Watanabe: Pasquale

Steve Grabe: Ciccio

A Fullerton Civic Light Opera Company production of Frank Loesser’s musical, directed by Gary Gordon. Musical director/conductor: Todd Helm. Lights: Donna Ruzika. Choreography: Sha Newman. Costumes: Sherry Linnel.