Most Happy Fella at City Center: Encores.

[skynyc]

Go! Go! Go!

 

LOL...I know, I know. I rave too often.

 

This lush score is presented by a cast of 38 and an orchestra of 38. (Not a typo. Orchestra of thirty-eight!)

 

Impossible to define...an operetta? A musical with opera songs? On opera with a musical comedy secondary couple? Whatever it is, it was lovely, romantic and utterly captivating. I hummed "My Heart is So Full of You" all the way home on the subway.

 

Shuler Hensley was wonderful...and I admit it took me a minute to warm to him. I've thrilled to the Original Cast Album vocals of Robert Weede for so long, that Mr. Hensley had to win me over with his portrayal before I could accept the voice.

 

The secondary couple: Heidi Blickenstaff and Jay Armstrong Johnson as Cleo and Herman get to sing "Oh, My Feet", "Standin' on the Corner", "I Like Everybody", and "Big D". Johnson is an absolute charmer...I delighted in him in last season's lesser Hands On a Hardbody, and this past summer in On the Town in the Berkshires, and he almost steals the show here.

 

But for me it was all about Laura Benanti. She opens her mouth and the words "I Love Him" gave me instantaneous goosebumps.

 

Oh, and did I mention...CHEYENNE JACKSON IS ALSO IN IT! And he's in great voice...he embodies the character so well and his "Joey, Joey, Joey" felt like it was written for him.

 

Encores is for the true lovers of musical theater, and this production was one of the most grand to date. It plays through Sunday at City Center. I suspect that I will go back again on Saturday night.