I had the honour a few days ago of being one of a very select group invited to attend a sneaky preview of the exciting new musical Happy Days, based on the TV show of the same name.

by Robin Foreman-Quercus | 11th January 2014

The show, which opens at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre, stars West-End leading man Ben Freeman (who TV viewers may recognise from Emmerdale) as The Fonz, Eurovision-winning pop legend Cheryl Baker as Mrs Cunningham, and everyone’s favourite Sugababe, Heidi Range as Pinky. The cast also includes Lucy-Jane Adcock, Charlie Allen, Henry Davis, Ray Gardner, Emma Harrold, Grace Holdstock, Katie Monks, Eddie Myles, James Paterson, Edwin Ray, Sam Robinson, Andrew Waldron, Scott Waugh and Jason Winter.

Garry Marshall, creator of the TV series, always hoped to turn Happy Days into a musical and has written an exciting new storyline for the stage. Marshall will hopefully be attending opening night to see his vision brought to life by producer Amy Anzel, who gave TheGayUK this delicious interview back in November. The score, featuring 21 original songs, is written by Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe award winning songwriter Paul Williams (composer of Bugsy Malone, Evergreen, Rainy Days and Mondays, Only Just Begun, Rainbow Connection) and also features the much-loved Happy Days theme song. The four numbers we witnessed featured lively and entertaining choreography by Olivier Award nominee Andrew Wright (who also directs), with difficult moves performed with apparent ease by a strongly talented cast.

At its height, Happy Days was broadcast in 126 countries around the world, turning Henry Winkler’s The Fonz into one of the world’s best known TV characters. As Creative Consultant, Winkler has lent his expertise to this production, attending rehearsals once a week to guide the cast and creative team.

Minutes before dress rehearsal started, I managed to catch up with Cheryl Baker, who had this to say:

'Happy Days was such an iconic TV programme that I always watched. People were glued to their TV every Saturday. As soon as the logo came on, we would sit for half an hour enjoying 50’s Americana. It was so alien to us – the diner and everything. Now we have places like Ed’s Diner which is exactly like that, but then we just had coffee shops or cafes. It’s like Dallas in the 80’s – we thought we’ll never lead that life, which is why we embraced it as we did. That’s also why this tour will do so well. When they asked me to play Mrs C, I didn’t ask how long the tour was, where it was playing, how much or anything, I just said yes because I loved the show so much! It has a crazy plot, zany characters and colourful costumes, almost like a pantomime. You don’t need to have watched Happy Days back in the day to enjoy this.'

This show promises to be a lot of fun, providing a colourful peek at 1950s America for those who do not remember the TV series and plenty of nostalgic joy for those of us who do. These are, indeed, Happy Days!

Happy Days the Musical opens at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley on 14 January, the eve of the 40th Anniversary of the TV show’s first ever broadcast. Full tour dates are below and tickets for all shows are available from www.happydaysthemusical.com

Saturday 11 – Saturday 18 January (Previews 11th-13th, Opens 14th): Bromley, Churchill Theatre

Monday 20 – Saturday 25 January: Brighton, Theatre Royal

Tuesday 28 January – Saturday 1 February: Hull, New Theatre

Tuesday 4 – Saturday 8 February: Dublin, Grand Canal

Tuesday 11 – Saturday 15 February: Southampton, Mayflower

Monday 17 – Sat 22 February: Sheffield, Lyceum

Monday 24 February – Saturday 1 March: Glasgow, King’s

Monday 3 – Saturday 8 March: Bristol, Hippodrome

Monday 10 – Saturday 15 March: Norwich, Theatre Royal

Monday 17 – Saturday 22 March: Southend, Cliffs Pavilion

Monday 31 March – Saturday 5 April: Woking, New Victoria Theatre

Monday 7 – Saturday 12 April: Cambridge, Corn Exchange

Monday 14 – Saturday 19 April: Sunderland, Empire

Tuesday 22 – Saturday 26 April: Birmingham, Hippodrome

Tuesday 29 April – Saturday 3 May: Cardiff, New Theatre

Monday 5 – Saturday 10 May: Aberdeen, His Majesty’s

Monday 12 – Saturday 17 May: Edinburgh, King’s

Monday 19 – Saturday 24 May: Dartford, Orchard

Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31 May: Canterbury, Marlowe

Monday 2 - Saturday 7 June: Plymouth, Theatre Royal

Monday 9 – Saturday 14 June: Wolverhampton, Grand

Monday 16 – Saturday 21 June: Milton Keynes Theatre

Monday 23 – Saturday 28 June: Salford, The Lowry

Monday 30 June – Saturday 5 July: Nottingham, Theatre Royal