THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250096
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARSHA GILBERT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
BROADWAY COMES to Virginia Beach in a streamlined revival of the Frank Loesser musical ``The Most Happy Fella.''
Starting Friday at 8 p.m. at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Theater, audiences will get a chance to re-discover this Tony Award-winning classic in a new Commonwealth Musical Stage production.
Loesser began his career as a lyricist-composer in the 1930s. He is best remembered for works like the musical ``Guys and Dolls'' and the World War II song ``Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.''
He did not live to see a performance of the scaled-down version, which he directly supervised, of his 1956 Broadway musical ``Most Happy Fella.'' However, CMS will pay tribute to him through its rendition of this work. It features a two-piano arrangement instead of a full orchestra.
``We're attempting to mount a production more the way (Loesser) wanted it,'' by using smaller orchestration so the lyrics don't get lost behind the instruments, said Jeff Meredith, CMS producing director.
Meredith, a Virginia Beach native, established Commonwealth Musical Stage five years ago after working in numerous acting, directing and consulting positions with various theater groups.
``This is not a song-and-dance musical,'' Meredith said. ``It's an up-tempo, Broadway-style piece. It's a `sung through' musical like the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber of `Cats' fame. There is very little dialogue and mostly music.''
The play is set in California's Napa Valley. The plot is a journey through love, understanding and commitment as a May-December relationship takes comic and sometimes tragic turns.
The heroine, young Rosabella (Rebecca Spencer), is a waitress from San Francisco. After exchanging a series of letters, she falls in love with Tony Esposito (Peak Kwinarian), an aging Italian vineyard owner.
Rosabella is initially disappointed when she learns that the photograph that she was mailed, which she thought was of Tony, is really of his young, handsome foreman Joe (Marc Kettles).
A love triangle occurs until Rosabella decides which man she really loves.
Some local favorites, Julie Tsirimokos and Mary Ann Rayment, were invited by the director to be part of this CMS production.
Tsirimokos plays Marie, Tony's sometimes overprotective sister. She was Nettie in ``Carousel'' in 1992 and Madame Armfeldt in ``A Little Night Music'' last year with CMS.
``Marie is a typical Italian woman,'' said Tsirimokos, a veteran actress for over 30 years. ``She is very attached to her brother. She was told to take care of him by their mother and she is possessive and loves him very much.''
Rayment plays Cleo, a waitress and Rosabella's best friend. Cleo adds some comic relief as she supports Rosabella during her decision-making process.
Rayment has been acting with CMS since its beginning. In the first play of the first season five years ago, Rayment played Madame DuBonnet in ``Boyfriend.''
``I've been a kid on stage my whole life,'' said Rayment, a professional actress since 1980. ``I love the idea of being somebody else and being on stage and being entertaining.''
Spencer joined the cast after starring as Christine in several productions of ``Phantom of the Opera.''
Kwinarian is on hiatus from the role of Charlie Anderson in the national tour of ``Shenandoah.'' He has also performed as Emile de Becque in ``South Pacific,'' Don Quixote in ``Man of La Mancha'' and King Arthur in ``Camelot.''
Joe, played by Marc Kettles, is Tony's handsome foreman. Kettles played Freddy in ``My Fair Lady'' and recently completed the European tour of ``42nd Street.''
Commonwealth Musical Stage primarily performs revivals of classic works. Each season it performs three subscription pieces and two non-subscription musicals. ``Pirates of Penzance'' will be its next production, with opening night on March 15. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
From left: Mary Ann Rayment as Cleo, Julie Tsirimokos as Marie, Peak
Kwinarian as Tony and Rebecca Spencer as Rosabella in CMS's
``Fella.''
by CNB