Happy Days - The Arena Mega Musical

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Happy Days - The Arena Mega Musical is an Australian musical that is a spinoff of the USA sitcom Happy Days.

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Directed by David Gilmore and produced by Paul Dainty it debuted in Sydney in October 1999, subsequently playing in Melbourne, Adelelaide, Perth and Brisbane. The musical had a preview staging at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on 7 October 1999 [1] before its official opening on the 15th at Sydney's SuperDome. [2]

The musical was met with mixed to poor reviews. Paul LePetit of the Sunday Telegraph wrote that it was "a relentlessly bright but banal night. Plenty of colour and movement, but little plot and a lot of over-acting." [3] The Sun Herald's Colin Rose said that the "clichéd storyline, as old as the hills, was merely an excuse to play the great hits (27 of them) from rock'n'roll's heyday, songs such as Jailhouse Rock, Great Balls Of Fire and Johnny B Goode." [4] Chelsea Clarke writing in the Daily Telegraph praised the " dazzling costumes, excellent staging, bright choreography and stunning use of the impressive lighting rig." but said that from "a creative point of view, though, it lacks a great deal of what made other arena spectaculars such as Grease so successful". [5] The Australians Stephen Brooks writes "what a shame the actual Happy Days element of the show doesn't fare as well." [6] Ara Jansen praised the show in The West Australian, "If Happy Days doesn't put a smile on your face, then you're in need of therapy." [7]

An Original Cast Recording album was released [8] and was nominated for the 2000 ARIA Award for Best Cast or Show Album.

Original Australian cast

Original cast recording track listing

  1. Happy Days - The Company
  2. Trouble - Jon Stevens
  3. Long Tall Sally - Matt Hetherington, Craig Ilott, Darren Coggan & Pippa Grandison
  4. Born Too Late - Pippa Grandison
  5. Great Balls of Fire - Craig McLachlan & Rebecca Gibney
  6. Dream Lover - Darren Coggan
  7. Poison Ivy - Human Nature
  8. Unchained Melody - Doug Parkinson
  9. A Teenager in Love - Human Nature
  10. Rip It Up - Jon Stevens
  11. C'mon Everybody - Craig McLachlan
  12. At the Hop - The Company
  13. Stand by Me - Jo Beth Taylor & Darren Coggan
  14. Johnny B. Goode - Craig McLachlan & Darren Coggan
  15. You Don't Own Me - Jo Beth Taylor
  16. Stay - Human Nature
  17. Tell Him - Jo Beth Taylor & Pippa Grandison
  18. Lucille - Doug Parkinson
  19. Fever - Rebecca Gibney
  20. Jailhouse Rock - Jon Stevens
  21. Save the Last Dance for Me - Craig Ilott, Darren Coggan & Matt Hetherington
  22. Shake You Outta My Head - Human Nature
  23. Heartbreak Hotel - Craig McLachlan
  24. Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay - The Company

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References

  1. ↑ "Mr C And His Crew Paint Newcastle's Skies Blue", Newcastle Herald, 8 October 1999
  2. ↑ Clarke, Chelsea (15 October 1999), "Happy days are big.", Daily Telegraph
  3. ↑ LePetit, Paul (17 October 1999), "Meagre musical", Sunday Telegraph
  4. ↑ Rose, Colin (17 October 1999), "Old Time Rock'n'roll Just Soothes The Soul", Sun Herald
  5. ↑ Clarke, Chelsea (19 October 1999), "REVIEW - HAPPY DAZZLER", Daily Telegraph
  6. ↑ Brook, Stephen (22 October 1999), "Show with no particular place to go", The Australian
  7. ↑ Jensen, Ara (8 November 1999), "Frolic With The Fonz", The West Australian
  8. ↑ Eder, Bruce, "Original Cast. Happy Days (The Arena Mega Musical)", allmusic
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