The Most Happy Fella is Frank Loesser’s most operatic musical—and therefore just the right sort of vehicle to test the full range of talents of UNL Opera’s student performers. It is also a great audience pleaser, full of rip-roaring musical theatre showstoppers like “Standin’ on the Corner,” “Big D,” “Joey,” and “My Heart Is So Full of You.” An emotionally powerful love story, The Most Happy Fella is set in California’s Napa Valley during the 1930’s. Tony Esposito, a middle-aged owner of a vineyard, proposes through the mail to a woman who does not know what he looks like, enclosing a photo of his young, handsome foreman. When Rosabella learns the truth, she is hurt and humiliated. A loving understanding eventually blossoms between the two during Tony’s long convalescence from a near-fatal accident, but only after the mismatched pair overcome suitably heart-wrenching obstacles. Broadway and opera star T. Doyle Leverett will perform the title role. Guest artist Leverett, the foremost Tony Esposito in America today, has triumphed in the role in regional productions, on Broadway and, last March, at New York City Opera.

Students interested in taking the winter lecture series for one credit, please contact Chuck Francis at 472-1581 or e-mail cfrancis2@unl.edu