Hollywood producer Garry Marshall has had a number of requests to turn his hit television series, “Happy Days,” into a major motion picture.
But Marshall decided to go in the opposite direction. Instead he wrote a musical about Richie, the Fonz, Joanie, Chachi and the rest of the gang.
“I always thought the characters were special - people have loved them for so many years,” Marshall said. “It just makes more sense to turn it into a musical than making it a feature film with some big names.”
“Happy Days: A New Musical” stops at Arizona State University’s Gammage Auditorium Nov. 18, but don’t expect a musical version of a few TV episodes.
“During the writing process for this musical, we tried to put a couple episodes together with music and make it work,” Marshall said during a phone call to promote the show. “But oh, boy, that was a disaster.”
Marshall said he and the writers decided to go back to the drawing board and make up a fresh story about the “Happy Days” crew.
“Happy Days” originally aired on ABC for 10 seasons and presented an idealized look at life in America in the 1950s and early 1960s. The show starred Ron Howard as Richie, Tom Bosley as Howard, Marion Ross as Marion and Henry Winkler as Fonzie.
The series is considered a pop culture staple.
“The characters were solid and people could identify with them,” said Marshall. “It was an age of innocence, and (it was) a show where there was love and affection.”
It took at least four years to complete “Happy Days: A New Musical,” Marshall said.
“We had to work with the music writers to make sure the songs were just right, and then change the speaking lines of some characters a few times,” he said.
The musical, Marshall said, is a tribute to “Happy Days,” but it’s not a spoof.
“I don’t make fun, but there’s a wink to certain aspects of the show,” he said. “We mention jumping the shark, Marion’s feminism and Richie’s older brother, Chuck, who disappeared.”
“Happy Days: A New Musical” played at a few regional theaters across the country before the recently launched national tour.
Almost all of the original cast members of the TV series have seen the musical and their stage counterparts. Winkler actually helped teach some of the Fonz’s characteristics to the stage actor portraying him in the national tour.
“Henry (Winkler) absolutely adores the guy, and it was like passing off the torch to the next generation,” Marshall said. When the national tour ends, Marshall would like to see the musical head to Broadway, but not right now.
“I would love to go to Broadway, but I think the tour is more important right now,” he said. “This show is an ensemble piece, so we don’t have any big stars, which would have been crucial if we went to New York first.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Happy Days: A New Musical.”
WHERE: Arizona State University Gammage Auditorium, 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe.
WHEN: Nov. 18-23.
COST: $26-$71.
TICKETS: Call the box office at 480-965-3434 or visit asugammage.com.
HAPPY DAYS TRIVIA
• The Fonz originally had two lines in the pilot episode of “Happy Days.” Marshall said the network wanted to get rid of him “because he was a hoodlum,” but the audiences embraced him and he became a series regular.
• Marion Ross and Anson Williams are the only cast members who stayed with the show from its pilot to its conclusion. Henry Winkler and Tom Bosley appeared in every episode of the series except the pilot show.
• The pilot of the show was originally called “Love and the Happy Days.”
• “Happy Days” has spun off at least four series including “Laverne & Shirley,” “Blansky’s Beauties,” “Mork and Mindy,” “Out of the Blue” and “Joanie Loves Chachi.”
• Hanna-Barbera Studios produced a cartoon titled “The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang” from 1980-1982.