All tagged The Most Happy Fella
When I sat down to write a “Top 15” list of Frank Loesser songs, the composer-lyricist behind such Broadway musical hits as Guys & Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, I soon realized that narrowing it down to the fifteen best would be a futile task. Loesser was such a master of melody, character development, and found wonderful places for heart in the most comedic of places. So, instead of boiling it down, I just picked 15 songs by Frank Loesser to create a playlist that I hope beyond hope that you will enjoy as much as I reveled in putting it together. More or Loesser, every single one of these is a gem.
If you are like me, a bitter, sarcastic Muppet-like creature, Valentine’s Day isn’t exactly your cup of tea. We of this ilk condemn the holiday as a commercially created reason to spend money on cards, flowers, sweets, and for the most entrenched of us, jewelry. We bemoan the coming of old February 14 and pray to God that Cupid’s arrow misfires and lands squarely between his own cherubic eyes.
With the Tony Award nominations announced and the race setting in to be a pretty uneventful one since Hamilton appears to be poised to win most of the prizes, I started thinking about what these awards would look like if Hamilton were not in the equation. For the Best Musical prize, I think it is fair to say that the race would come down to a dead heat between Waitress and Bright Star, with Bright Star edging out the win on Tony night. This got me thinking about other years where juggernauts like Hamilton were a foregone conclusion, and what might have happened if those titles had never been in play. Read along and debate with me.
Let me start out by saying that I reluctantly fell under the charms of Laura Benanti, never quite sure what her exact appeal was. At this point in my mistaken existence, I had seen her ONLY in the 2003 revival of Nine playing Claudia and found her to be quite capable, but I was not sure what all of the hoopla was about. As much as I prefer to be always right, I have to admit that I was extremely wrong where Ms. Benanti is concerned. Several years later, my good friend and sparring partner Robbie Rozelle took me to see Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and to use an overused phrase, “I saw the light.
