On Oct. 29, the day after Happy Days plays its final performance at Paper Mill Playhouse, the company will record the score of the 1950's set tuner, which features music and lyrics by Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winner Paul Williams and a book by Emmy nominee Garry Marshall.
Songs from the production, based on the popular Paramount Pictures TV series, include "Welcome to Wisconsin," "The Pink's in Town," "Message in the Music," "Legend in Leather" and "Dancing on the Moon." PS Classics expects an early 2008 release date for the CD.
The Happy Days cast recording will be produced by Grammy Award winner John McDaniel, who also serves as musical supervisor for the Paper Mill production.
The Happy Days cast features Joey Sorge as The Fonz, Rory O'Malley as Richie Cunningham, Felicia Finley as Pinky Tuscadero, Patrick Garner as Howard Cunnigham, Cynthia Ferrer as Marion Cunningham, Natalie Bradshaw as Joanie Cunningham, Todd Buonopane as Ralph Malph, Christopher Ruth as Potsie, Eric Schneider as Chachi and Michael J. Farina as Arnold.
The ensemble includes Scott Barnhardt (Scooter), Julia Burrows (Lori Beth), Andrea Dora (Paula), Lisa Gajda (Pinkette Sally), Stephanie Gibson (Pinkette Lola), Lauren Parsons (Louise), Tom Plotkin (Jumpy Malachi) and Andrew Varela (Count Malachi). The Paper Mill Playhouse production and recording of Happy Days: The Musical is made possible by Robert Boyett Theatricals, LLC.
Oct. 29 will be a busy day for the PS Classics team, who will also be recording the original Broadway cast album of Xanadu. On Nov. 6 the label dedicated to the heritage of the American songbook and theatrical works, will release a trio of solo recordings from Tony Award winner Victoria Clark, Andrea Burns and Lauren Kennedy as well as a disc featuring late Rent composer Jonathan Larson performing his own work.
The PS Classics label, founded by Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin, has produced the Grammy-nominated cast albums of Assassins and Nine: The Musical.
For further information visit www.psclassics.com.
