Saturday 11 January 2014

Photos: 'Happy Days: A New Musical' Photo Call with Stunning Heidi Range, Cheryl Baker and more

'Happy Days: A New Musical' Photo Call in London


Cheryl Baker, Ben Freeman and Heidi Range attend a photocall for new musical 'Happy Days' at Ed's Easy Diner on January 8, 2014 in London, England.































Video: Happy Days the musical Meet and Greet - Rehearsal Day One

MEET AND GREET - REHEARSAL DAY ONE








Published on 14 Dec 2013
An exclusive glimpse of what happened when the cast, crew, creatives and general management of Happy Days - A New Musical met for the first time.

On Monday 2nd December 2013, rehearsals began for the UK Tour of this exciting new show at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley where we open on January 14th 2014.

Happy Days are here again with the premiere of a brand new UK tour based on the hit TV series, featuring the unforgettable 'King of Cool' Arthur 'The Fonz' Fonzarelli.

Join your favourite '50's family, the Cunninghams and the rest of the gang -- Potsie, Ralph Malph, Joanie and Chachi as they battle to save their beloved diner Arnold's from demolition. In a race against time, can everyone's favourite hero 'The Fonz' save the day?

Happy Days -- A New Musical is written by Garry Marshall, the legendary creator of the television series. Garry is also the director of many world-wide smash-hit films including Pretty Woman, Beaches and The Princess Diaries 1&2. It includes 21 original songs by Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe award-winning Hall of Fame Songwriter, Paul Williams (Bugsy Malone, Evergreen, Rainy Days and Mondays). The show also contains the much-loved Happy Days theme song from the TV show.

Starring popstar HEIDI RANGE as Pinky Tuscadero, CHERYL BAKER as Mrs Cunningham and BEN FREEMAN as the legendary Fonz, Happy Days -- A New Musical is a hilarious feel-good musical that is guaranteed to have you rockin' and rollin' all week long!

For exclusive news and exciting images from the tour please check out our social media accounts:

Twitter: @HappyDaysUKTour
Facebook: HappyDaysANewMusical
Instagram: @HappyDaysUKTour
YouTube Channel: HappyDaysUKTour
Website: www.happydaysthemusical.co.uk

Sugababe Jade proves she is a real cut above - Liverpool Echo

Sugababe Jade proves she is a real cut above

10 Jan 2014 09:30
Tonight’s the Night is at the Empire from January 27 to February 1

Jade Ewen of the Sugababes
Jade Ewen of the Sugababes













As a child, Sugababe Jade Ewen was obsessed with Disney’s The Lion King. So when she discovered they were auditioning for the role of young Nala in the West End she was determined to get the part.
“I nagged my mum to take me to the open auditions,” she recalls.
“She was kind of  apprehensive about it, she believes in me but she knew as well I hadn’t had any real training, just the local dance school, so she said there are going to be thousands of kids going up for the same  part so don’t get your hopes up.
“And it was such a horrible process. I had 13 recalls, and they brought in the Americans  to whittle you down, and it was very pressurised.
“But I did it in the end, and I was like, yeah!”
Fast forward more than a decade and the 25-year-old is preparing for a new musical role – playing Dee Dee in the Rod Stewart musical Tonight’s the Night, which comes to the Empire at  the end of this month.

The Sugababes, Amelle Berrabah, Jade Ewen & Heidi Range
The Sugababes, Amelle Berrabah, Jade Ewen & Heidi Range















The show, penned by Ben Elton and packed with songs made famous by Stewart including This Old Heart of Mine, Sailing, Maggie May and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy, is set on the mean streets  of Detroit and in glamorous LA.
Nerdish Stu is in love with Mary, but is too shy to tell her.
One night he makes a pact with the  devil to trade his soul for  his hero Rod Stewart’s. It seems like a good idea... at the time.
 “I’m Mary’s best friend, and am completely against Stu,” explains Jade. “I never thought he was good enough. And then suddenly he comes in one day and is all cool and I think, he’s too arrogant because he thinks all the women love him. So I’m really anti-him.
“But there’s also another character called Rocky who is totally in love with Mary. So there’s a  bit of a love triangle going on.”
To add to the confusion, Dee Dee is secretly in love with Rocky.
Jade’s big number is The First Cut is the Deepest (also a hit for PP Arnold) – “because it’s about my heartache watching Rocky”.
So which one would she go for?
She laughs: “I’d go for the shy character, I don’t like cocky, arrogant men.”
Those who only know Jade for her pop career in the Sugababes, alongside Liverpool’s Heidi Range, might not realise that Tonight’s the Night takes her back to what she trained for as a  student at the famous Sylvia Young Theatre School.
“I love theatre and I really want to go back to it at a later stage, hopefully a West End role,” she  says. “I want people to know I have a passion for it and I’m happy to do the groundwork of putting  in the hours.”
She could, perhaps, even end up in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical one day. The pair  worked closely together when Jade was chosen to sing his song It’s My Time, the UK’s entry in  Eurovision back in 2009.
Sadly it wasn’t her time that year – although she did score 173 points and end with a creditable  fifth place.
“He actually said to me if I ever wanted to do theatre I should definitely give him a shout,” she  smiles. “But I haven’t really seriously had time to consider it before now because it’s just been non-stop.”
As for Eurovision, Jade adds: “It was nice to feel proud of what I’d contributed. I think here we just dismiss it, but they take it really seriously in Europe and they really go for it.
“I think 122 million people watched it live that night, and the auditorium had 90,000 in it. It was full on and highly pressurised, but again it was an amazing experience.”
Tonight’s the Night is at the Empire from January 27 to February 1.