“The Most Happy Fella” is a musical by Frank Loesser (I wrote about Loesser and his oeuvre here) that opened on Broadway in 1956.

“Fella” is an odd bird in that it requires many operatic voices. Perhaps that’s why it’s so seldom performed. My parents, who often took me to Broadway musicals even at that tender age, omitted that one. My guess is that it was because it contained “adult” themes.

But we owned the record. It was one of the few musicals I learned through the recording only and didn’t see in person until I was well into middle age. It’s absolutely wonderful, one of the best ever, combining a touching story and an almost endless flow of beautiful music.

Was it an an opera? I would say not, since it contained huge reams of dialogue. I’d call it “operatic,” though. As a child, however, I didn’t care about such distinctions.

Robert Weede, who played Tony and is shown in this video, had previously been known as an opera singer. But he was a sensation in “The Most Happy Fella.” I’m sad that I didn’t get to see him, but I found a YouTube video of him performing one song from the show, live and in concert.

Do you think he’s hammy? Maybe, by today’s standards. I think he’s absolutely perfect. The character of Tony is supposed to be very emotional. Tony is an Italian-born (the stereotypical Italian accent is part of it) California vineyard owner, an older man who’s never been lucky in love but thinks he’s finally found a woman to love him. In addition, wonder of wonders, she’s young and beautiful. In this song he’s telling his long-dead mother (in heaven) the news.

Just watch Weede transition from explaining the character to being the character. That part begins at around 00:32, and the transformation becomes complete at around 00:42:

Giorgio Tozzi (1980) is very good singing the same song, but in my opinion not as good as Weede:

Michael Corvino, singing here more recently, has a very beautiful voice. But the acting, although fine, is more gentle and displays nothing like the astounding variety and power of the swiftly changing emotions Weede conveys with his face and gestures. Here’s Corvino:

While we’re at it, if you’re still with me, here’s a recording of another favorite song of mine from the original cast album. This one is among the songs from the show that are not the least bit operatic. Enjoy:

There’s this one, too. In the video (and on the record) there’s a short intro I’ve left in here, because it tells you a little bit about what’s happening. Tony is teaching some Italian to the younger woman with whom he’s in love and who is beginning to love him back. But it’s also a quartet that contrasts the happiness of the lovers—who rejoice in each passing day—with the depression of Tony’s older sister and the restlessness of the farm foreman Joey. There’s only one comment to the YouTube video at the moment, and even though I didn’t write it, it expresses my feelings about the song and the feeling I had about it even as a child (“This quartet is almost painfully beautiful.”):