Charlie has returned home to Tauranga to renew his visa after being fired from his job directing a Broadway revival of Cats. His mum, thrilled that her successful son is home, quickly tries to get him to help with her theatre group’s new production.
It’s an offer he just as promptly declines. He isn’t planning on sticking around and is still haunted by his past as a theatre kid. But when his visa is denied, his hand is forced. To show American immigration he’s a sought-after director, he agrees to help his mum’s amateur theatre group, Pizzaz, stage their original musical The Trojan Horse. It’s worth noting that all of this happens within the first 10 minutes or so.
The script deserves applause for how streamlined and crafted it is. It rockets along but never feels rushed. And while many of its characters are recognisable tropes (the reluctant hero, the overbearing mum, the pompous director, the Cinderella working in the shadows, etc, etc), it allows the pace to be kept up. Happiness doesn’t have to waste much time introducing its ensemble cast of characters. You feel like you already know them, because you largely do. Which feels somewhat appropriate for a musical such as this.
It’s worth noting that once you get past the show’s boyband introduction, the music is great. As the show-within-a-show begins production, the cast begin belting out the show tunes. Like the characters, these songs all take recognisable Broadway shapes. While The Trojan Horse may be fictional, its brilliant original songs wouldn’t feel out of place on Broadway.
The comedy is pretty good too. While nothing in its first two episodes had me rolling in the aisles, it is an amusing show, with enough one-liners and gags scattered throughout to live up to its billing as a “musical comedy”.
Of course, a musical lives or dies by its cast and Happiness doesn’t disappoint here either. Shortland Street’s Harry McNaughton is terrific as the unwilling Charlie, and Rebecca Gibney hams it up wonderfully as his highly theatrical mother. Yes, the cast does chew the scenery, but again, it works and just feels right.
Despite my initial dubiousness, Happiness won me over. It’s an ambitious and world-class show that’s big and bright and simply a rollicking good time. It’ll put a swing in your step and a smile on your face.
And with its diverse cast, its regional setting of the Bay of Plenty and its warmly exaggerated look at the Kiwis who put on local theatre productions around the country, Happiness tells a recognisably New Zealand story and reflects what Aotearoa looks like in 2025.
It’s exactly the sort of thing we need to see more of. And a prime example of why it’s so crucial that we keep funding and telling our stories. It may be expensive to produce, but in a world of increasingly imported entertainment, how else will we know who we are?
Happiness is screening on Three and available to stream on ThreeNow.
Karl Puschmann is the culture editor and an entertainment columnist for New Zealand’s Herald. His fascination lies in finding out what drives and inspires creative people.
