Why Cheyenne Jackson Is The Most Happy Fella

After focusing on his film and solo music career for more than a year, Broadway heartthrob Cheyenne Jackson returns to the stage in the Encores! production of Frank Loesser's 1956 musical The Most Happy Fella, which opens tonight and runs through Sunday at Manhattan's New York City Center.

Jackson, who stars as Joe, a handsome and restless Napa Valley ranch hand, chats with Playbill.com about leaving his New York home and finding happiness with a new fella in Los Angeles.

"Honestly, in getting sober over the last couple years, revaluating relationships and friendships, I realized that what's really important is my family and the people I love," he explains.

Jackson and Monte Lapka announced that they were divorcing last August after two years of marriage and 13 years together. Jackson announced his engagement to Jason Landau in February.

"I never thought it would happen," the 38-year-old 30 Rock alum says of relocating to California, where his parents, brother, and sister now live. "My family was always sort of spread out, but now all the kids are in the same state for the first time."

Jackson, last onstage in the 2012 flop The Performers, also reveals why Broadway has taken a backseat to his other creative passions. "I was offered a lot of Broadway shows in the past year, but I told my agent that wanted to do more film, and that's what happened," he says. One offer was a role in the upcoming revival of On the Twentieth Century starring Kristin Chenoweth. "I would have loved to be a part of that, but right now my life is in L.A. My family and my fiance are out there. Until there's something specifically written for me or there's a project I just can't pass up, I'm going to have to keep New York theatre limited to stuff like Encores! and other short spurts."

Memorably seen in HBO's Behind the Candelabra, Jackson appears in the upcoming films Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks and Love Is Strange. He recently shot Ryan Murphy's HBO pilot Open. His debut solo album, I'm Blue, Skies, was released last summer.

Read Jackson's complete Playbill.com interview here.

For tickets and more information on The Most Happy Fella, visit NYCityCenter.org.