Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
iluvtheatertrash
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
#1Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 10:39am
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
#2Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 10:53am
Wow!! I'm very excited for this. Is casting usually announced this early for Encores?
7 and a half months in advance for a five day engagement seems quite early.
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
#2Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 10:54amThis will be a hot ticket, I bet!
mamaleh
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/04
#3Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 10:54amThat is one amazing cast. Really looking forward to this one.
#4Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 10:55amI actually just said 'wow' out loud at my desk. I guess I'm buying a ticket!
#5Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 10:55am
Here's a little taste of Benanti's Rosabella.
Laura Benanti and Emily Skinner, "Ooh, My Feet" and "Somebody Somewhere"
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#6Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 10:56amHensley's been involved with this for a long time now. I'm guessing once they were able to lock in Benanti, they wanted to make the announcement to drum up excitement for it.
#7Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:04amLet's face it, they could have cast it with Gonzo and Carmella and I still would have bought a ticket. I think the show is a masterpiece.
#8Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:07am
I would like a theater company to do a season of shows with only Muppet performers.
But I am so excited for this cast! Maybe I'll break down and get a subscription, because this whole season excites me.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#9Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:08amLaura will be brilliant in this...but who is playing Cleo?!?!
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#10Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:09amThe season seems good, but I really can't get excited for the Christian Borle LITTLE ME. He does nothing for me.
#11Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:20amLaura Benanti back onstage is reason to celebrate.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#12Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:21am
Robbie, I agree. The show is a masterpiece.
Great roles for both singing and acting. Benanti and Hensley should be terrific, and it will give them both a chance to shine.
Jackson has the eye candy role. It's not as meaty dramatically, but he has some wonderful stuff to sing (Joey, Joey, Joey being one of the show's highlights).
I'm also wondering who they'll cast as Cleo and Herman ... and Marie (another great acting/singing part).
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#13Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:26amI have a feeling this will be a longer run and not the 7 days mentioned in the article.
#14Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:32amThat would be good!
#15Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:32amWow, Benanti singing some of this gorgeous music. How great!
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#16Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:33amAnd this had BETTER get a recording!!
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#17Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:34am
^ Yes!!
This is exciting news!
#18Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:35am
And this had BETTER get a recording!!
They really should just start negotiating with Jo Sullivan Loesser right now.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#19Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:36am
Can you imagine the soaring passion that will surely be "My Heart Is So Full of You?"
Maybe they should cast Megan Hilty as Cleo. I bet her Big D would stop the show.
This is my favorite show of all-time. How am I supposed to wait 7 months to see this???
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#20Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:37am
Okay, after watching that video clip, Emily Skinner has to play Cleo opposite Benanti. That scene was fantastic (even if the audio quality is lacking).
Really powerful stuff. Skinner totally gets Cleo and her humor, and Benanti comes off as a hopeless romantic without looking idiotic or overly naive.
And their voices match the acting in excellence.
I wish they could have a good-sized orchestra to go with it. Yes, I saw the scaled-down production with the two pianos, and it still works because the material is so strong, but that orchestral sound is so wonderful.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#21Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 11:57amI so hope this goes from Encore to Broadway. This show is perfect. The score is probably one of the five best ever. I don't think I have ever seen a production that "My Heart is So Full of You" doesn't reduce me to tears. I hope I can get tickets.
#22Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 12:02pmThey both sounded wonderful in their respective numbers.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#23Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 12:08pm
I realize this is a semi-staged concert and that Benanti may play it youngish and Hensley oldish, but it is interesting that the leads are only about 12 years apart. On one level it may make the love story more believable having a relatively small age difference between them; on the other its quite a change from the plot.
Updated On: 8/22/13 at 12:08 PM
#24Benanti, Jackson and Hensley to star in MOST HAPPY FELLA at Encores!
Posted: 8/22/13 at 12:22pmYes, the show is absolutely a masterpiece and it was way ahead of its time. I would love for this to get fast-tracked to a full lush revival. I imagine Hensley will be fine for a concert, but he does seem an odd choice to play an "old man" (I don't want him breathing all over me!).
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
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