Theater News

Laura Benanti and Cheyenne Jackson Will Star With Shuler Hensley in Encores! Most Happy Fella

Frank Loesser’s romantic musical comes to New York City Center in April 2014.

New York City

August 22, 2013

Tony Award winner Laura Benanti (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and Drama Desk nominee Cheyenne Jackson (The Performers) will join the previously announced Shuler Hensley (Waiting for Godot) in the upcoming New York City Center Encores! production of Frank Loesser’s The Most Happy Fella. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, the production will run April 2-6, 2014.

Inspired by Sidney Howard’s play They Knew What They Wanted, The Most Happy Fella follows the love triangle of aging Napa Valley farmer Tony (Hensley), the young waitress Rosabella (Benanti), and the handsome ranch hand Joey (Jackson). The score includes show tune classics like “My Heart Is So Full of You” and “Standing on the Corner.”

The Most Happy Fella originally opened at the Imperial Theatre on May 3, 1956, and ran 676 performances. It was revived by the New York City Center Light Opera from February 10-22, 1959. It has been revived on Broadway in 1979 and 1992.

Hensley, Benanti, and Jackson all have long histories with the New York City Center Encores! program. Hensley appeared in this season’s production of Fiorello!; Benanti starred in 2000’s Wonderful Town; and Jackson played leading roles in Finian’s Rainbow in 2009 and 2008’s Damn Yankees.

Additional casting and information about the production will be announced in the coming months.

Click here for more information and tickets to The Most Happy Fella.