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Tommy Ramone is musical director of a new Gabba Gabba Hey! musical featuring the music of the Ramones. Gabba Gabba Hey! debut was in Perth, Australia, at the Monkey Bar on August 17-21, 2004. With 18 high energy Ramones songs and a rather touching love story all performed in 70 minutes, Gabba Gabba Hey! is streetwise yet heartfelt; retro but also new and innovative.

Tommy Ramone wrote following in late August, 2004:
We just finished a successful showcase run in Perth Australia. It was well received by both the audience and the critics.
With a book by novelist Michael Herrmann, the show was directed by New York-based Andy Goldberg with choreography by Strictly Ballroom star Paul Mercurio. I was very happy to be involved as the musical director. With a cast of seven and a band of three (lead by former Clash guitarist Nick Sheppard) the production is both faithful to the spirit of the Ramones as well as a groundbreaking rock-theater hybrid.

Here's 2 reviews.OBS!, Any historical or factual mistakes belong to the journalists who wrote them.

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Gabba Gabba Hey! at the Monkey Bar in Perth, Australia on August 18, 2004.
Review in The West Australian Newspaper.
Review: Simon Collins

The spate of musicals strung along the back catalogue of bands like ABBA (Mamma Mia!) and Queen (We Will Rock You) begs the question: Why make up a story when the truth is so vibrant, so sordid, so fascinating? I guess it's because it's also litigious.
Seventies punk icons The Ramones would be a perfect cast of characters on which to base a narrative. You've got Joey, the compulsive loner, who strangely shines out front of the punk band. There's Johnny, a perpetually angry control freak, who famously steals (and eventually marries) his lead singer's girlfriend. Tommy's the solid beat. The ideas man, the studio hound, who shifts aside to allow a rotating cast of drummers to fill the Ramones drum stool.
Last, but not least, there's Dee Dee, the drug-fuelled miscreant who may or may not have turned tricks on New York's mean streets.
They were literally street punks who found salvation in rock'n'roll.

All this was recently highlighted in the excellent documentary, End of the Century, but it would still make brilliant fodder for a stage play.
Local Gabba Gabba Hey! writer and producer Michael Herrmann filters some of fact into his fictional tale set on New York's lower east side circa 1980. Dougie (Will Ferrier) is a pot-smoking, wannabe rock star. Expelled from school and dumped by his girlfriend, Sheena (Julie Yammanee), he escapes an abusive home and ends up on the street, selling his body.
He finds salvation in rock'n'roll, with a little help from his guardian angel, glam-rock legend Johnny Thunders, of the New York Dolls. The end.

But, never mind that bollocks - Gabba Gabba Hey! is enormous fun thanks to the great Ramones tunes (with a New York Dolls and Motorhead song thrown in for good measure), bawdy humour and the unique venue.
On Wednesday night, a buzzing Monkey Bar filled with a mix of theatre types and local rockers not sure what to expect. The art scensters enjoyed the novelty of seeing a production in a pub - it's like never having to leave the lobby bar.
The energized six-person cast played a number of roles each, especially experienced performers Lynda Nutter and Mark McAullary, who superbly camp and their way through half a dozen characters each.
It was hard to believe Ferrier is a virtual novice. His strong singing and passion carry the production.
Yammanee and Australian Idol contestant Cle Wootton as punk chicks Sheena and Judy, respectively, are wild. When they combine with Nutter for three-girl harmonies, you imagine Joey - who was a massive fan of 60s girl groups - nodding with approval.
The action takes place in front of a simple graffitied red screen, with the actors shifting the minimal props on and offstage. The changes happen as sharply as the Ramones would finish one blazing song and start the next.
The real stars of Gabba Gabba Hey! Work behind that screen. Bandleader Nick Sheppard - guitar (The Cortinas, The Clash), Dave Kavanagh (bass) and Ant Milne (drums) belt out bang-on versions of the Ramones songs; form opener Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio? To the finale, Blitzkrieg Bop. They get their moment of glory with the speed metal of R.A.M.O.N.E.S originally by Motorhead.
The trio's only mistake was to not count each song in with a manic "1,2,3,4!" a la Dee Dee.

Gabba Gabba Hey! opens a bit like a rock eisteddfod but quickly revs up into a head-banging feast of punk rock littered with pop culture references, Ramones in-jokes and rude humour. It's very playful and it's impossible not to sing along and shout the odd "Hey, ho! Let's go!"
There are a couple of dark moments - the domestic violence dance-along to Mama's Boy and the "rent boy" scene to 53rd and 3rd - which set this aside from saccharine rock musicals.
If you love punk and have a sense of humour, you'll dig Herrmann's monster. If you love punk and don't have a sense of humour, you'll leave muttering something about it desecrating the true spirit of punk - the exact attitude the late 70s movement sought to eradicate.
The five-date run of Gabba Gabba Hey! is fundamentally a hook in the water, hoping to get a nibble form a big fish over east or overseas (specifically New York). There's a good chance this unique hour-long Ramones-fest will bob up elsewhere.
Gabba Gabba Hey! is fast, loud and fun. Just like a Ramones song.

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Gabba Gabba Hey! at the Monkey Bar in Perth, Australia on August, 2004.
Review in The Australian Newspaper.
Review: David King

There's something dark lurking beneath the surface of the new Ramones musical, Gabba Gabba Hey! Fast, camp and energetic on the exterior, the production has an undercurrent of grit that's hard to miss.
Check out the list of misfortunes that befall the lead character, Dougie, played by stage debutant William Ferrier, in the course of one evening. It's a case of teen angst that only New York City in 1980 could provide. Expelled from school with his beloved guitar smashed to pieces, the would-be rocker is dumped by his girlfriend Sheena in favour of the star quarterback.
At home he's beaten by his stepfather and let down by his mother. Late, in a bar, he's drugged and robbed. In desperate need of money for smack, Dougie is reduced to performing oral sex on a punter on 53rd & 3rd street, where he's beaten senseless with baseball bats by homophobic suburbanites.
If that isn't enough, he finds out his idol John Lennon has died. It's a lot of grief for one-hour show but Gabba Gabba Hey! moves at a relentless pace.

Half gig, half musical theatre, a three-piece band rips through 17 Ramones covers and one New York Dolls number (Personality Crisis) in 62 minutes (each show differed in time, but all under 70 minutes)
Original band member Tommy Ramone made his first visit to Australia to oversee the musical direction of the show, which features the hits Blitzkrieg Bop, 53rd and 3rd and Sheena is a Punk Rocker.
Loud and raucous, Gabba Gabba Hey! is filled with pithy one-liners that parody a traditional boy-meets-girl-storyline.
Ferrier makes a bold stage debut. The 19-year-old had never performed professionally before, and came with his brother to the audition because he was crazy about the Ramones.
Co-stars Julie Yammanee, as Sheena, 2003 Australian Idol finalist Cle Wotton (Sheena's friend, Judy) keep up the pace, with dancing choreographed by Strictly Ballroom's Paul Mercurio.