THE opening lines of the title song to the hit 70's TV show Happy Days seemed very appropriate last night - goodbye grey skies, hello blue. The grey skies were certainly throwing down plenty of rain as we entered the theatre but they were soon turned blue by the energy and enthusiasm of the cast of this vibrant show. If you were a fan of the TV show then you certainly won't be disappointed.

We are taken back in time to the world of Arthur Fonzarelli, affectionately known as 'The Fonz' and it has to be said that Craig Urbani , in the title role, is a natural in the role made famous by Henry Winkler.

He played the smooth talking, cool dude with ease.

Indeed, he had only been on stage for a matter of seconds when some female members of the audience started screaming their obvious delight and when he began to dance and gyrate his hips - hey, enough said!

Of course all Fonzie's faithful friends are here - Ritchie (Stephen Dean) who falls for the biker moll Laura (Lisa Kay), Potsie (Nik Martin), Joanie 'shortcake' (Louise Tyler) and Ralph the Malph - an excellent comic performance from Kev Orkian, who held the audience in the palm of his hand.

Mr and Mrs Cunningham played by Roger Kitter and Carol Ball, complemented each other well and their impromptu ad lib during a romantic scene was superb - the audience loved it.

The story centres around the gang's favourite diner - Arnold's - which is under threat from ruthless developers.

Enter the Fonz and friends to save the day.

Along the way were are treated to a 50's musical spectacular filled with classic rock 'n' roll numbers and high-energy dancing which left the audience cheering and shouting for more.

They'll be jiving in the aisle come the weekend. LINDA HURST

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.