I regularly travel from Scarborough to Hull, just to see a show at this theatre. Although it’s called the New Theatre, it’s far from new, but it’s ok. It’s run by the local council, so don’t expect anything too fancy.
I saw Happy Days which was poor but that doesn’t reflect my rating for the theatre.
Happy Days review (Hull: Jan 2014)
I saw a documentary about the casting process for this show, and thought the show would be ok. Unfortunately the documentary was far more entertaining than the actual show.
The main problem was that Ben Freeman, who played The Fonz had the charisma of a tea pot. Fonzie is meant to be a really cool guy, rather like James Dean, but Ben Freeman was about as cool as wee Jimmy Krankie.
Because the main character was poor, the whole production suffered. The music was pretty unmemorable; there was no humour, and no emotional contact whatsoever.
Heidi Range wasn’t bad in the show, but Cheryl Baker was just embarrassing. At least I only paid £15 for my ticket.
Don’t waste your time on this show, unless they hire someone else to play The Fonz.
