By ELAINE SCHMIDT
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Fonzie, the Cunninghams and the gang from Arnold’s hit the stage for a musical set right here in Milwaukee. Schlitz may have been the beer that made Milwaukee famous, but “Happy Days” was the television series that made Milwaukee a household word.
On Tuesday, the Cunninghams, Fonzie and other familiar “Happy Days” characters will take the Marcus Center stage in a national touring production of “Happy Days - A New Musical.”
With a book by Garry Marshall, co-creator of the original television series, and music and lyrics by Oscar-winner Paul Williams, who penned such hits as “(Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song” and “We’ve Only Just Begun,” the curtain rises on 1959 Milwaukee.
Arnold’s is being torn down to build a mall, Marshall said in a recent phone interview. “Of course, they don’t know what a mall is yet, but they want to save Arnold’s.”
Speaking in the iconic Bronx accent he shares with sister Penny Marshall (who, of course, played Laverne in the “Happy Days” spin-off “Laverne & Shirley”), Marshall talked about the new musical and told a few stories about the creation of the original series.
“The musical is a sincere, family show - they have dinner together in the evening,” he said. “They weep once in a while, there’s lots of comedy in it and a few inside laughs.”