19-02-2025
Ole Olsen puts on 'Happy Days: A New Musical'
PERU — The nostalgia of the '50s and one of the country's most beloved classic TV sitcoms is the topic of Ole Olsen Memorial Theatre's latest production.
The Peru theater company is putting on 'Happy Days: A New Musical,' beginning this weekend at the Peru Depot, 154 S. Broadway St., Peru.
'Happy Days: A New Musical' is set in season four of the famous TV show and follows the kids' plans to save the diner Arnold's from demolition by hosting a dance contest and wrestling match.
The adaption is written by the sitcom's creator Gary Marshall and its music is written by famed songwriter Paul Williams, writer of the number 1 chart-topping song 'Evergreen,' featured in the 1976 adaptation of 'A Star is Born.'
Members of Ole Olsen have been working on the production for the last two months, a process show director Shanna Stoll described as arduous but rewarding.
The theater company has worked meticulously to recreate the clothing, set design and props to accurately portray the time period and TV show.
'What I'm wanting to happen is the audience getting sucked back into that 'Happy Days' nostalgia,' Stoll, who also portrays Marian Cunningham in the musical, said.
All the show's iconic characters are featured in the musical, including Arthur 'The Fonz' Fonzarelli played by Lucas Bowley, Richie Cunnigham played by Dustin Huddleston and Chachi Arcola played by Tanner Davis.
This is Bowley's first Ole Olsen production. The Indiana University Kokomo student said he knew he wanted to be a part of the show once the casting call was announced. If you're a fan of the TV show, you'll be a fan of this musical, he said.
'It takes a lot of the ideas of the show that people love from different parts of the show and mesh it all together so it's the best of all of it,' Bowley said.
The key to this production, Huddleston said, was the cast's ability to all 'gel together,' a must for a type of show that relies on the cast recreating the chemistry among actors of the original sitcom.
For Huddleston, the hope is for the musical to allow the audience to look back in their life and fondly remember some of their happiest days.
'One of my favorite lines is at the very end, Richie says 'For most of us, and I hope for a lot of you, I hope you'll look back on these days and they'll truly be happy days,'' he said. 'Some of my greatest times were in high school and being around all my friends. So when I look back on those days, I truly do think about those days being happy days. No matter where you're at in life, you can look back at life and either you grew from it or it was a lesson you can learn from.'
