The Story Of... - Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Brunelleschi Da Vinci"

The Story Of... - Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Brunelleschi Da Vinci"

The Story Of...
ON TOUR DA NOVEMBRE 2014
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CHARACTERS
RICHIE CUNNINGHAM
A High School student
ARTHUR “THE FONZ FONZARELLI
Richie’s best friend
PINKY TUSCADERO
Fonzie’s ex-girlfriend
HOWARD CUNNINGHAM
Richie’s father
MARION CUNNINGHAM
Richie’s mother
JOANIE CUNNINGHAM
Richie’s sister
RALPH MALPH
One of Richie’s friends
WARREN “POTSIE” WEBBER
One of Richie’s friends
CHARLES “CHACHI” ARCOLA
Fonzie’s cousin
ARNOLD DELVECCHIO
Owner of the local diner
MYRON “COUNT” MALACHI
Sworn enemy of Fonzie
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The Story of “HAPPY DAYS –
”
WRITTEN BY ERASMUS THEATRE
NOTE DI REGIA
Nostalgia degli anni ’50, delle gonne larghe, del giubbino di pelle e di quello del
college ? HAPPY DAYS - A new musical by Gary Marshall riporta sul palco la stessa
atmosfera che si respirava in ogni famiglia all’ora di cena negli anni ’70 ’80.
Quel profumo di torta di mele e di vinili nel jukebox, che forse mancano oggi.
HAPPY DAYS - A new musical, ambientato nel dopoguerra con canzoni originali e
splendide coreografie sarà uno spettacolo divertente e amichevole che ci riporterà la
spensieratezza e la voglia di vivere tipica di quegl’anni.
Tutti abbiamo sempre sognato che HAPPY DAYS diventasse un musical...un
musical per tutte le età.
Lo scritto che vi presentiamo è semplicemente un accenno della rappresentazione
teatrale che vi potrete divertire ad immaginare ed adattare voi stessi. In esso sono
state inserite inoltre alcune parti (contrassegnate con le note musicali) delle
innumerevoli canzoni di cui è ricchissimo questo musical.
Grazie e buon divertimento da ERASMUS INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL AND
THEATRE
www.erasmustheatre.com
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – 1959
Meet High School Student Richie Cunningham. Richie will soon be graduating from
Jefferson High School and he is reminiscing about his time there. Although he has
very fond memories of the last few years he cannot wait to step out into the big wide
world and discover what there is to offer outside of the small town where he grew up.
♫ WELCOME TO WISCONSIN ♫
I Richie Cunningham
Will document these days
Of hoo-la-hoops and poodle skirts
The latest TV craze
I`ll write of old Milwaukee
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And I`ll always write the truth
About this frozen city
Where I shivered through my youth...
Richie lives with his mother and father, Marion and Howard Cunningham, and his
younger sister Joanie. Howard owns and runs the local hardware store and Marion’s
pies are famous for being the most delicious in town.
ARNOLD’S
Arnold’s is the local diner where anyone who’s anyone spends their time catching up
on all the town gossip. “London has the BBC, New York has the Times, and we have
Arnold’s.”
♫ Sock hop, soda pop
Meeting at the malt shop
Part of growing up around here
Welcome to Wisconsin
Make yourself to home...
Now, the guy that keeps all the kids happy and serves up the tastiest shakes and
malts is funnily enough called Arnold! Richie and his friends Ralph Malph, Potsie and
Chachi all meet at Arnold’s on a daily basis to chow down on burgers, check out the
girls or even practice for their vocal group “The Dial-Tones”. Both Ralph and Potsie
are graduating High School with Richie but Chachi is a couple of years younger and
is cousin to Richie’s best friend and local heartthrob, Arthur “THE FONZ” Fonzarelli!
♫ Every story`s got to have hero
Nothing more important to the plot
Well he`s got to have courage
And he`s got to be strong
The one word description is hot! Hot!
Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!
THE FONZ
The Fonz, also known as Fonzie is a little older than all the other guys and didn’t
really get on that well with High School. He now works as a mechanic and runs the
local garage. Fonzie used to belong to two different gangs and had quite a reputation
making many people afraid of him. The Fonz met Richie when he intervened in a
rumble where gang members had challenged the high school student and his
friends. Despite their differences, the two gradually became best friends. While
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Richie learned the ways of the world from Fonzie, Fonzie learned about the
closeness of a tight-knit all-American family from the Cunninghams. Though at first
looked down on he eventually became accepted by Richie's family and now lives in
the attic room above the Cunningham’s garage.
♫ Friday night and all is right for teens and dreamers
Lucky stars and sputnik up above
Fonz and Elvis putting up with fans and screamers
Friday night`s the night they fall in love...
Fonzie is very successful with women. Very few women turn down his advances or
make him nervous and he always treats his dates with the utmost respect. His
success with women makes him a great source of advice for Richie, Potsie, Ralph
and Chachi and the men's washroom at Arnold's is Fonzie’s "office," where he keeps
the phone numbers of his many girlfriends written on the wall.
♫ Look at my friends, they’re a noisy bunch
But, good guys, rocking dolls
Typical teens from hometown USA.
They’re raised on white bread and apple pie
They’re not all champions but they always try
And they look to Fonz for answers
To the problems of the day
And they treat him like a hero, yes
It’ll always be that way...
BAD NEWS
So, all the guys are gathered at Arnold’s and he is just about to close up for the
evening when they find out some very bad news. A big construction company called
“Wells, Winter and Wacker” have bought the land that Arnold’s is on and it is to be
closed down and knocked down to make way for a mall and parking lot. The guys
are outraged and Fonzie is sure that the local community will not let this happen.
Arnold thinks he is wrong – but The Fonz is never wrong! He can’t even say the word
“wrroo...” The only thing that they can do is to try and raise enough money to outbid
the construction company. As the guys disperse to do their homework and chores
Fonzie tries to come up with fundraising ideas to save Arnold’s because that’s what
he does, Fonzie is their hero after all.
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♫ SNAP ♫
You just snap your fingers
And the sun breaks through the grey clouds
Snap your fingers and the music starts to play
Crowds gather all around me
Centre stage where I belong...
Fonzie has an almost magical ability to manipulate technology with just a nudge,
bump or a snap of his fingers for things such as starting a car, turning on lights,
coaxing free sodas from a vending machine, or changing the song selection on a
juke box. He is sure to come up with something that will save Arnold’s from being
demolished!
THE GUYS
The guys are gathering for a Dial-Tones rehearsal but they are all too distracted with
talking about girls. Richie is concerned about his girlfriend Lori Beth and Ralph and
Potsie can’t stop talking about Laverne and Shirley from the tv series. Chachi finally
turns up and brings the news that Arnold’s will be having a dance contest to raise
money and Fonzie’s ex-girlfriend Pinky Tuscadero will be returning to be a judge!
Upon hearing this news the Fonz gets up to leave using the excuse that he’s “...gotta
go call a guy who knows a guy who knows a man about the guys bugging Arnold.”
♫ THE THING ABOUT GIRLS ♫
We’d be much better off if they’d leave us alone
But what every guy wants is a girl of his own.
The guys finally get to work and start rehearsing a song called ♫ ROMEO
MIDNIGHT ♫, a beautiful romantic ballad. Fonzie walks in on the end of the
rehearsal and isn’t much impressed with their song selection: “That’s the kind of
singing my dentist likes.” Fonzie tries to convince them that girls aren’t interested in
that kind of music, they like music with a rocking rhythm and a good beat.
♫ OOOOH BOP ♫
Try an ooooh bop
I gotta have you
Can’t stop thinking about you...
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SAVING ARNOLDS
Plans to save Arnold’s are in full swing - there is even the idea of a wrestling match
between Fonzie and his sworn enemy Myron “Count” Malachi. Arnold and Howard
think that they could definitely get television coverage of the wrestling match seeing
as it is the latest craze and Count Malachi, after getting out of jail, is now one of the
biggest and meanest wrestling stars! But they will have to convince The Fonz!
♫ THE PINKS IN TOWN ♫
I come racing into town setting hearts on fire
I ride a big pink Harley that I call ‘Desire’
Heads start turning when the Pink show up
Wait! This one’s mine if he ever grows up...
The Fonzie’s ex- girlfriend is back in town to help raise money to save Arnold’s. She
left town to go on tour with a daredevil motorcycle show. She is extremely beautiful.
All the boys want to be with her and all the girls want to be like her. Pinky grew up in
this town and can’t let Arnold’s go without putting up a fight. The entire town
welcome her back home and she talks of fond memories with Joanie and Chachi
who she knew when they were just small children.
As Arnold and Pinky are talking over the details of the dance contest Count Malachi
turns up – Arnold has asked him to stop by to talk about the wrestling match. He
likes to make a grand entrance! After being obnoxious and threatening to everyone
at Arnold’s he tries his luck with Pinky but she brushes him off... “Count me out,
Count”. The discussions with Arnold are cut short when an almighty crash is heard
outside. It seems that someone has crashed into Count Malachi’s car and that
someone just so happens to be The Fonz! After a fiery yet brief confrontation Count
Malachi decides to leave and get his revenge another day. All the guys make their
way home leaving Pinky and Fonzie alone to get reacquainted with one another. It is
obvious that Pinky has missed Fonzie and vice versa but they are too proud to admit
it.
AT THE GARAGE
Chachi and Fonzie are talking about the standoff with Count Malachi at Arnold’s,
or rather, Chachi is talking to Fonzie about it – he would rather just change the
subject – so Chachi does:
“So, how’d it go with Pinky? You two gonna be back to being one wah wah wah, hot
couple.”
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Apparently this is not a question a guy asks a guy – the subject quickly moves away
from Pinky to Joanie, Richie’s sister. It’s no secret that Chachi has a “thing” for her
but he doesn’t quite know how to get the relationship started. Luckily Fonzie has all
the answers.
♫ HEARTBEAT ♫
You gotta listen for that heartbeat
Pounding out the message
This is one you can’t walk by
Listen for that heartbeat
Saying the impossible
Is sometimes worth a try...
Fonzie’s lecture is cut short by the arrival of Mr Cunningham. He has come to ask
Fonzie if he will wrestle Count Malachi live on TV to raise money to save Arnold’s.
Although very unsure The Fonz says that he will think about it which is always better
than a flat out no!
AT HOME WITH THE CUNNINGHAMS
Just another normal day in the Cunningham household – Joanie has been given a
skateboard as a present from Pinky and Richie is getting ready for dinner. The dance
contest is tonight and Joanie is excited and extremely nervous about the possibility
of being asked to dance by Chachi! Howard tries to avoid being run over by Joanie
whilst making his way to the telephone to call Arnold and give him the news about
Fonzie. Overhearing the conversation Richie becomes very concerned as he knows
Fonzie has an injured knee and can’t wrestle. He doesn’t have the heart to tell his
father – “...a reporter never reveals his source.”
Marion, Mrs Cunningham, returns home after picking up some groceries from the
store. She is the quintessential American housewife but dreams of being much,
much more. She has many ideas that she thinks Howard could implement in his
hardware store to make tools and gadgets more appealing to women but Howard
never seems to have time to listen.
♫ WHAT I DREAMED LAST NIGHT ♫
I just remembered what I dreamed last night
An invitation to dine with Wilbur and Orville Wright
They said that I was gifted
I could fly to unimagined heights
My future might hold something more
Than cleaner cleans and whiter whites...
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Joanie is ready for the dance and wants to show her mother her dress. She looks
beautiful and Marion is sure that Chachi will think so too. Joanie wonders if that is a
good thing – what is she supposed to say? Her mother’s advice is to say “nothing
and just feel...” She tells Joanie about a guy she used to date and how she tried to
break it off with him for months but he just wouldn’t give in. She ended up marrying
him.
♫ I just remembered what I dreamed last night
Me and Chachi at the Junior Prom
The mood just right...
THE DANCE CONTEST
“Welcome to Arnold’s first annual “dance contest” to raise money, so we can have a
second annual dance contest.”
Whilst Arnold gets everything ready for the contest along with his judging panel
Richie confronts Fonzie about wrestling with his bad knee but he is just ignored and
Fonzie goes off to “...prepare his hair.” Pinky finally arrives and the dance contest
can begin. Chachi tries to get Joanie to dance with him but she is just too shy. Pinky
sees this and thinks that she might be able to help – just listen to the music.
♫ MESSAGE IN THE MUSIC ♫
Maybe you’ll find the message in the music
The drummer could be speaking to your soul
When you tune into the groove
And let your body move
You’re playing with the power of Rock and Roll...
Everyone tries to impress the judges with their dancing but the winners of the dance
contest are Joanie and Chachi! The dance contest raises a total of $118 – not much
but it’s a start. The fun is suddenly interrupted by a crash. The sign that sits at the
bottom of Fonzie’s steps has been broken in two and thrown through the window of
Arnold’s and there can only be one culprit... Count Malachi. With this, Fonzie decides
that he will wrestle the Count at Arnold’s picnic. Richie frantically tries to persuade
Fonzie to rethink his decision and if he doesn’t Richie threatens to tell everyone
about his injury so that they feel pity for him making The Fonz into something he
really hates – weak!
“Nobody embarrasses The Fonz. Not Myron Malachi and not Richie Cunningham.
I’m finished with you.”
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♫ MAYBE IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON ♫
When a Hero’s done his best
And the planet can’t be saved
Does he look for a job at the hardware store
Or find work on a road to be paved
No he’s already gone
Maybe it’s time to move on...”
And with that, The Fonz decides to leave town.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT?
The Fonz is gone and hasn’t returned and despite everyone looking for him he hasn’t
been found. Without Fonzie there will be no wrestling match and no saving Arnolds,
unless... Richie decides that he will wrestle Count Malachi... or maybe Ralph could –
he is on the High School wrestling team! However, Ralph just said that so he could
talk girls into showing them his moves. The guys are scared – why can’t they just
wait for The Fonz to come back? Fonzie always saves the day.
♫ RUN ♫
Sometimes just a little bit scared
Can be a good thing
Sometimes just a little scared
Brings out you best...
The girls have been searching for Fonzie too. Pinky and Joanie have been checking
all his usual hangouts but he’s isn’t at any of them. Joanie is worried that he will
never come back, that they will never find him. Pinky explains that The Fonz belongs
to no one and that you have to learn to stand on your own two feet and that you can’t
rely on others no matter how much you care for them.
♫ LEGEND IN LEATHER ♫
And he took hold of me with that first kiss
We were perfect together
My legend in leather
Impossible not to miss
And I love him still
And I always will...
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Meanwhile Fonzie is on the road and his favourite motorcycle, Dolores, has given up
on him. He is stranded in the middle of nowhere.
♫ AAAY’MLESS ♫
Has the sun set on as good as it gets
Have my prospects begun to dim
Is there bad news, or a date with the blues
Has my future begun to look grim...
Without Fonzie it looks like Ralph or maybe even Richie will have to wrestle Count
Malachi. Arnold makes them sign contracts which say that he isn’t responsible for
any injuries that might be sustained during the match. Count Malachi turns up at
Arnold’s to sign his contract where he finds out The Fonz has left town and he has to
fight one of the other guys. He thinks Fonzie has run away like a coward, Arnold
says that he has had to leave town due to a “family emergency” but everyone knows
the real reason!
WELCOME HOME
As Mrs Cunningham goes to put the trash out before making her way to the wrestling
match she finds Fonzie hiding under the steps behind the rubbish. She tries to
convince him to talk about his problems and concerns but he just won’t. Fonzie
thinks that asking people’s opinions and showing that he is worried about something
would make people think that he isn’t cool. Marion tries to explain to him how he is a
hero in this town just like Elvis and James Dean are Fonzie’s hero’s – surely they
would think that talking helps? Maybe they can help?
♫ GUYS LIKE US ♫
In your heart you know the answer
There’s really nothing to discuss
The higher road’s the only road for
Guys like us...
THE WRESTLING MATCH
“And now, live from Pfister Park, live on television here on W-O-O-F Milwaukee. It’s
wrestling time.”
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Everyone is preparing for the match and there is still no sign of The Fonz which
means that Ralph will be taking his place in the ring. But not for long. Just as the
match is about to begin Ralph makes a dash for it leaving Richie as an easy target.
Ralph has deserted Richie and he just doesn’t stand a chance. All of a sudden there
is the noise of a motorcycle and The Fonz appears to save the day. He tells
everyone the reason he left town and how he isn’t perfect but he will do anything to
save Arnold’s. The match restarts and it is pretty fierce but with the help of Dolores
and her blinding lights he manages to get Count Malachi into a hold and win the
match!
Of course everyone is over the moon! Surely they will be able to save Arnolds with
the money raised from the television contract? But no one is happier than Pinky.
Fonzie and Pinky finally get to talk about the past and The Fonz even admits that he
was wrong about a few things. Who would have thought it?
♫ DANCING ON THE MOON ♫
If we traced our life together
From tonight to way back when
We’d walk a path of busted plans
And things that might have been...
A HAPPY ENDING?
So, Fonzie came back home and won the wrestling match and the day has been a
totally success but Richie reveals that unfortunately they did not raise enough money
to outbid “Wells, Winter and Wacker” but, what he did find out is that if a building is
declared a Historical Landmark, no one can ever change it or the land it is on ever
again. All they need is five city council votes which they can easily get so now
Arnold’s is protected by law and cannot be turned into a shopping mall.
Arnold’s is saved, Joanie has been promised Richie’s old car, Pinky and The Fonz
are back together again and Richie decides that maybe he should stick around this
old town for a bit longer before leaving to see what the rest of the world has to offer
because where would he ever find a friend like Fonzie?
The night of the graduation prom has arrived and Richie realises that this will
probably be the last time that all these people will be together like this. But they will
never forget these times or this place because for all of them these High School days
were truly Happy Days!
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♫ HAPPY DAYS ♫
Goodbye gray skies, hello blue
There’s nothing to hold me when I hold you
Feels so right it can’t be wrong
Rockin’ and Rollin’ all day long
These days are ours
Share them with me
Oh Happy Days
These days are ours
Happy and Free
Oh Baby
These Happy days are yours and mine
These Happy days are yours and mine
HAPPY DAYS!
THE END
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