"Middletown" is a production written by playwright Dan Clancy and stars Cindy Williams, Didi Conn, Adrian Zmed and Donny Most; a veteran cast of thespians brought together in what's being called a, "Dramady."
After a Las Vegas opening and recent dates at The Bucks County Playhouse in the quaint town of New Hope, PA; former "Happy Days" co-star Donny Most spoke about this; his most recent endeavor.
"The play is about two couples from Middletown, New Jersey that have been friends for 33 years who have dinner every Friday night. Their personalities are kind of opposite in some ways and maybe you wouldn't expect them to be friends but on the other hand maybe there is a recipe for a great friendship and it certainly works for these four people. It takes you through all the ups and downs of marriage and having kids and going through all those years which I certainly can relate to and it seems like the audiences are relating too; friendship and things that we all go through in life or have shared experiences with. It's beautifully written by Dan Clancy an award winning play-wright and director Seth Greenleaf who has won Tony awards for producing and directing and the production company has got about 40 Tony awards to their credit; so they're a great group of people to be working with and that was one of the main things that attracted me to the play in addition to the play itself. I saw the key art for the poster and it was like a roller coaster and I thought, oh OK that's interesting and then as we've been doing the play and I see the audience reaction it has totally turned out to be that. There's great laughs, so much heart and a lot of emotion that people go through during the play and it's rewarding to have that kind of reaction; the play has gone beyond what I'd expected."
Most's co-stars include, "Beauty school drop-out" Didi Conn who portrayed Frenchy in "Grease," Adrian Zmed of "TJ Hooker," "Dance Fever" and "Grease 2" fame and Cindy Williams who was best known for her role as Shirley Feeney of "Happy Days" spin off "Laverne and Shirley." According to Most, the familiarity of the cast with one another goes beyond just his connection to Williams and was totally unplanned.
"Cindy and I had seen each other at certain events and functions but we haven't worked together on the acting side since the original episode of Happy Days" where Laverne and Shirley appeared as guest stars and then with the great response they got and how good it played then of course they got a spin off and their own show. So that was the last time that we actually worked together but like I said, we've seen each other and gotten to know each other better over the years but it's a joy to be able to work with her again and I'm thoroughly loving it. Didi; talk about how things all intersect, her first job when she got to L.A. was playing my girlfriend on "Happy Days." So that goes back and then Adrian and I use to work together and played ball on the same Hollywood celebrity softball team as well as working on the Broadway tour of "Grease" back in the late 90's. I worked with Adrian for about six months on that tour so there's all these connections with the cast. I don't know how much that all played into the casting because I don't think they knew. Actually now that I'm thinking about it I think they were surprised at how many connections there were. I think the producer and director knew that Cindy and I had worked together but I think that was it; I don't think they knew the other connections. Adrian worked with Didi in "Grease 2" and I'm not sure if Cindy had ever worked with Adrian or not but I think it was just one of those serendipitous kind of things that just happened."
So now that the play has made two stops with a third scheduled to begin a six day run on May 28 at The Delaware Theater Company in Wilmington, DE; is there a proposed national tour in its future?
"That's the plan and I think it will; nothing is concrete yet or set in stone but we did the play for the first time a short time ago in Vegas at a performing arts center; we did five performances and it went incredibly well. Honestly I have to say again that it sort of exceeded my expectations; I read the piece before I accepted doing it and really liked it and thought it had a lot of potential but I don't think that I could have really predicted what happened. It was one of those fortuitous pairings of the cast and material that transcends; it's like that old saying, "The sum is greater than its parts" and this became something on a bigger scale than I expected which is great to see and be part of. So we did it in Vegas and now at The Bucks County Playhouse which I've never been to in New Hope, PA which is a charming beautiful town. The theater was great and we got a great response again; so I'm feeling excited and encouraged about the prospects for this show."
When you're an actor who achieves success like Most did playing "Ralph Malph" on "Happy Days," it can be a struggle at times to break free of that persona and that same success can quickly turn to a hindrance; was this the case and how did he overcome it?
"It was a definite challenge and I left the show after the seventh season. The show ran 11 years but when my contract was up I thought it was time to move on because I knew what I was up against and what I'd be facing and I felt it was time to try to climb that wall and it was difficult. It's kind of a double edge sword; when something is that successful and so intertwined with a period or genre or whatever you want to label it; to be totally honest, yes it was very difficult. I did manage to continue working, sometimes in theater; I didn't want to do TV so I told my agents I wanted a break from television, I only wanted to do movies and theater. I couldn't even get auditions for movies because back then especially if you were in a sitcom you were like a second class citizen to film. It's not like today where people go back and forth between the mediums; it wasn't like that back then. So it was difficult but I continued to work and I directed three independent films and started getting more and more and as time passed it started to get better. So as of late I've been doing all kinds of roles in films and totally different kinds of parts, I've had a recurring role on, "Glee" and right now I'll be doing another movie in July and then I've got my own projects to hopefully be directing again. There's a few that are getting some major traction and I feel confident getting behind a camera and doing that as well. I love doing that, I love doing theater, I love doing film, I love getting on stage with a big band so it's kind of an interesting combination of things that are happening right now. I love them all and if I was doing one for a while then I'd be yearning; like after several months of doing theater I'll be yearning to tackle some more films and then a live stage with music and then directing. I love the challenges and the collaboration with all the different mediums and doing good work; that's what it's all about for me."
Most enjoys singing with a live band and is particularly fond of old standards, big band music and legendary crooners such as Frank Sinatra. This Sunday May 5 he will be performing in Freehold, NJ at the County Seat Jazz & Blues Street Fest in downtown Freehold. The Fest starts at noon with CMJ Jazz Band kicking things off at 1 p.m., followed by the great Chuck Lambert Band at 2:30 p.m. and The Donny Most Band at 4:15 p.m. To find out more about the event, please visit www.downtownfreehold.com.
To discover more about Donny Most and his diverse career, please go to www.donnymost.com.
That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
