JULY 22, 1994 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 13

ENTERTAINMENT

Two well-staged operas revolve around insecurity

Most Happy Fella

Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser Postcard From Morocco Music by Dominick Argento Libretto by John Donahue Lyric Opera Cleveland

Reviewed by Mike Henderson

It's rough enough just being middle-aged when you're single and the desire for a partner still burns inside you. When others keep telling you that because of your age and looks no one will want you, "rough enough" becomes downright hell.

That, in a nutshell, is the subject of Frank Loesser's musical Most Happy Fella. Tony Esposito, an Italian immigrant, has become a prosperous grape-grower in California's Napa Valley. One day while in San Francisco he sees a waitress and, too insecure to speak, leaves her a badly-written love letter and his amethyst tie-clip as a tip instead.

Back in the Valley he declares himself a Most Happy Fella because he is sure that he has found someone with whom to share his life. His own sister convinces him that he is not young enough or handsome enough to attract a partner, however, and throws him into despair. When his handsome young foreman, Joe, reminds him that he is leaving to take another job, Tony, overcome with insecurity, takes a picture of Joe "as a souvenir" and sends it to the waitress as his own.

Out of this premise the rest of the show grows. The waitress, after much wooing by letter, finally shows up to marry Tony, only to hate him because he is not young and handsome. She also meets Joe, who did not leave as expected, and reacts to him as Tony's letters had prepared her to react to the man whose appearance he possesses. The rest of the first

act and all of the second trace the changes in the waitress as she moves from an attraction to Joe's appearance to a love for Tony's real self.

The best parts of this show stem from Lyric Opera's particular realization ofit. David Small, as Tony, is anything but small. He has a presence and a voice that are bigger than life and he expresses everything from exaltation to despair equally forcefully. Sharon Wheatley, as Amy the waitress, does well to keep from being overshadowed by him, but particularly in the lyric moments of her role becomes very effective.

Kristi Smith, as Amy's friend Cleo, is a belter in the best sense, expressing a brash but loving personality through both her acting and her voice. Her duets with Herman (Calland Metts), including “Big D," provide not only comic relief but a lot of highly-charged singing and action. Special mention also needs to be made of Jon Whittier, John Muriello, and Allie Laurie, the three Italian cooks, who combine great and even operatic singing, spirited and even acrobatic dancing, and magnificent comic timing to bring off their two trios in a truly show-stopping manner.

Kudos also go to Teresa James, who costumed the good-looking American grape pickers in equally good-looking cowboy boots, hats, and jeans, so that the production was often a pleasure for the eyes as well as the ears.

There were some minor points that might be questioned. Tony speaks English like Chico Marx, but his sister, also from Italy, has no accent whatsoever; some of the scene changes happen without any connecting transition; etc. These points are indeed minor, however. The show's often high energy level (from director Michael McConnell), impressive choreography (Janiece Kelly-Kiteley), and generally fine singing definitely make it a production worth seeing.

If Most Happy Fella is a story of a man who overcomes his insecurities, Dominick Argento's opera Postcard From Morocco is a far less optimistic tale of seven people who alternate between reliving the causes of their insecurities and preying on those of others.

The setting is a train station in Morocco just before the outbreak of World War I. The waiting room, beautifully designed by Amie Albert, looks very much like the colorful interior of a Turkish bath. There is a small stage on which various fantasies are acted out, often brilliantly, by mimes Allie Laurie and Kristi Smith. Costume designer Teresa James underlines the resemblance to a spa further by clothing several of the men in little more than sheets or towels.

While they wait for their train, the various unnamed characters recall episodes in their pasts, often to themselves but sometimes to others, or act out fantasies that they have long treasured. The Lady with a Hat Box, Christine Abraham, does a star turn as an exotic nightclub singer. Mr. Owen, portrayed by Raymond M. Sage, finally brings to life his fantasy of being a sailor like those he had once admired. Fontaine Follansbee, as the Lady with a Cake Box, has a touching solo in which she recalls a man she may have once had a relationship with.

Between these recollections, various characters, seeking perhaps to divert attention from their own insecurities and the pretenses they have developed to shield them, try to undo the fantasies that some of their number have created to give their lives meaning. The most striking such instance occurs when several of the travelers shatter Mr. Owen by forcing him to reveal that, despite his claim of being a painter, there are no paints in the box he carries. Sage portrays Mr. Owens's total dev-

astation at this point very movingly.

Given that there is no actual narrative or plot development, but simply solo or group scenes for various of the seven individuals stranded in the station, the burden of keeping the show moving and interesting falls squarely on the shoulders of the director. Here Gary Briggle deserves a great deal of credit. His innovative handling of the solos and the interaction between the various characters plays a considerable role in maintaining the audience's attention. Lighting designer Cynthia Stillings also merits applause for keeping the visual picture constantly interesting with a striking variety of colors and lights.

Those leery of "modern opera" will find little to fear in this score and much to interest and amuse them. Argento's basic musical idiom is a fairly conservative one, often resembling the one used by John Corigliano in the recent Metropolitan Opera success, Ghosts of Versailles. Like Corigliano, Argento also parodies other musical idioms, sometimes recalling 1920s jazz, other times rewriting Wagner for salon orchestra. The score is never offputting and the varied orchestral colors often prove quite fascinating.

The libretto, which often probes into the individual characters' private concerns and fears, provides perhaps the evening's only problem. Because the orchestration is sometimes heavy, and because Kulas Hall's acoustics are not ideal for voices projecting over orchestra, some of the text was lost and certain singers were more successful than others in making their words heard.

Overall, however, Postcard from Morocco provides a challenging and rewarding evening of theater that Clevelanders hungry for something new should certainly sample.

The two operas are in repertory through July 31 at the Cleveland Institute of Music's Kulas Hall, in University Circle.

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