Daniel Fish Reunites with Oklahoma! Alums for The Most Happy Fella Concert

Bard SummerScape has announced casting for Most Happy in Concert. The event is directed by Daniel Fish, and reunites him with arrangers Daniel Kluger and Nathan Koci, who all previously collaborated on the Tony Award-winning revival of Oklahoma! that originated at Bard SummerScape in 2015. The performances are scheduled to take place on August 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30PM ET on an outdoor stage being constructed at Bard’s Montgomery Place campus on the Hudson River.

It was previously announced that Fish intended to make the Frank Loesser musical his next project. He had been scheduled to mount the musical from July 7 through August 2, 2020 at the Bard SummerScape festival prior to theater shutdowns caused by COVID-19.

The cast consists of seven female and non-binary vocalists, backed by a 13-piece instrumental ensemble composed of Grammy-nominated members from the Resonance Collective Jazz Orchestra. The performers include Mikaela Bennett, Tina Fabrique, Jules Latimer, Erin Markey, April Matthis, Oklahoma! alum Mallory Portnoy and Oklahoma! Tony nominee Mary Testa.

"What happens when, out of stasis, the need to scream becomes a song? What occurs in people when they allow music to work on them and possess them? The answers lie in the singing of Loesser’s extraordinary songs, including ‘Warm All Over,’ ‘Standing on the Corner,’ ‘Somebody Somewhere,’ and ‘My Heart Is So Full of You,’" Fish said of the concert staging.

Based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard, The Most Happy Fella centers on the love triangle between an aging Napa Valley farmer, a young waitress and a handsome, restless ranch hand. Featuring a book, music and lyrics by Loesser. The musical first opened at the Imperial Theatre on May 3, 1956 and continued for 676 performances.

Learn more about SummerScape 2021 health and safety protocols here.