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Bright, sparkling and cheerful
Happy Trio: Cheryl Baker as Mrs Cunningham, Ben Freeman as The Fonz and Heidi Range as Pinky Tuscadero. Picture: Paul ColtasHappy Days
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** THERE is
something infectiously . . . well, happy, about
Happy Days.
There is only one song you know, plenty you will never hear again, but
it is bright, sparkling, cheerful, and manages to catch some of the
wholesome innocence of 1959, when it was set, with a side order of fun. Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, The Fonz, was a hero
to a certain generation growing up in the 70s and early 80s when the TV
series spent a decade on our TV screens (spread hands with both thumbs
up and say “Ay”); he was anti- establishment, a drop out, who attracted
girls like blossom attracts bees, yet as a rebel was respectful to
elders, and girls, cool, but with a polite manner. Ben Freeman is never going to be The Fonz, it is
an impossible ask, the Fonz is Henry Winkler, end of story, and even
that was 30 years or more ago; but Ben is a good second choice. He has
the mannerisms, the fear of his quaffed hair being messed, and has a
decent voice to go with the trademark leather jacket, white tee-shirt
and jeans. He has had a long apprenticeship starting with
The Sound of Music at 13 followed by Grange Hill and
Emmerdale and then taking on the challenge of the West End creating
Norman in Dreamboats and Petticoats, followed by Legally
Blonde and more recently Wicked. His love interest is Pinky, a love that took a
hit years ago but is back on track when the touring motorbike star
returns to help save Arnold’s restaurant – the centre of the social
universe in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Pinky is played with a confident
brashness by Heidi Range, longstanding Sugarbabe, who can belt out a
song or give it a romantic softness. And still among the pop groups we have Cheryl
Baker, once of Bucks Fizz, as Marion Cunningham, Richie’s mum, who has
one of the clearest voices you are every li
Doubling up we have the baddies, ex-jailbirds
Count Malachi, Henry Davis, and his brother Jumpy, Sam Robinson, making
an impressive professional debut. The pair also appear as Leopards, a
sort of Lions Club outfit in the town, as well as playing James Dean and
Elvis . . . don’t ask. The story is simple, Arnold’s is under threat
from development by some firm called Ronald McDonalds, the customers set
out to save it and that leads to a proposed wrestling match between the
evil Malachis (boos here please) and their sworn enemy, The Fonz at the
annual picnic! Andrew Wright, the director and choreographer,
keeps up a good pace, helped by a remarkably flexible set from Tom
Rogers which folds into houses, diners, parks, a garage and anything
else needed. Wright’s credits as choreographer include
Singin’ in the Rain so there is a classy Broadway sophistication
about the hoofing. Garry Marshall’s book has a few modern references
but does have a late 50s, small-town America feel about it while the
music and lyrics from Paul Williams are pleasant rather than memorable
with the theme song Happy Days perhaps underused with just
snatches in the opening number and a short version at the end. With no
real nostalgic numbers, songs people know, it was always going to be a
big ask to get people up on their feet and bopping in the aisles at the
end, but, to its credit, original music lifts the show out of the
jukebox musical category. There are a few cultural references in the songs such as Fonzie singing sadly about leaving town in Maybe Its Time to Move On with the line “splashed by an Edsel* driven by a jerk”. Producer Amy Anzel, who was in the US production
of the musical as a Pinkette, has battled long and hard to bring the
show to the UK, a struggle well documented in C4’s The Sound of
Musicals. So was it all worth it? Move hands apart raise both
thumbs, give a hint of a shrug and say after me “Ay”. To 26-04-14. Roger Clarke
22-04-14
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kely
to hear in musical theatre, looking after Richie, the original star of
the TV series, played by Scott Waugh and his sister Joanie, played by
Emma Harrold.