Smokey joe's cafe original cast

Musical by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Smokey Joe's Cafe is a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll and rhythm and bluessongs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Original Broadwaycast recording, Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, won a Grammy Award in

After a Los Angeles tryout, the revue opened on Broadway in , running for 2, performances, making it the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history.^[1] It also had a London run in

Synopsis

In revue format with no unifying theme, the 39 songs are presented by various members of the cast in various combinations with no dialogue.^[2] There are novelty songs ("Charlie Brown"), romantic ballads ("Spanish Harlem"), and infectious melodies ("There Goes My Baby").^[2]

Songs

Music and lyrics for all songs are by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, unless otherwise noted.

The song "Smokey Joe's Cafe" is not performed in the show, although a brief instrumental excerpt is used in Act II as transitional music.

Smokey joes cafe characters pictures Cost of repairs? Download as PDF Printable version. Washburn " " Saved ". This site contains affiliate links.

Productions

Original Production

Conceived by Stephen Helper, Jack Viertel and Otis Sallid,^[3]Smokey Joe's Cafe premiered at the Doolittle Theatre in Los Angeles, where it ran from November to January 22, ^[4] The revue opened on Broadway on March 2, , at the Virginia Theatre.

Directed by Jerry Zaks with choreography by Joey McKneely and vocal arrangements by Chapman Roberts, the original nine-person cast featured Ken Ard, Adrian Bailey, Brenda Braxton, Victor Trent Cook, B. J. Crosby, Pattie D'Arcy Jones, DeLee Lively, Frederick B. Owens, and Michael Park, and later included Deb Lyons (replacement for Jones) and Matt Bogart (replacement for Park), both of whom performed in the final filmed DVD performance on January 18, Throughout its run, there were special appearances by popular singers including Ben E.

King (December ),^[5]Pam Tillis (April ), Gladys Knight (May ), Tony Orlando (June ), Lou Rawls (April ),^[6]Gloria Gaynor (August )^[7] and Rick Springfield (October ).^[8] Gladys Knight also appeared in the tour when it played Boston in February ,^[9] and Caesar's Palace Circus Maximus, Las Vegas in March–June ^[10] A film crew captured the final Broadway performance and it appeared on DVD in

West End

It premiered in the West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre on October 1, and ran through October 1, Zaks and McKneely return to direct and choreograph respectively, with some of the Broadway cast (Cook, Lively, and Crosby) repeating their roles.^[11][12][13]

54 Sings

On February 9, , original cast members Brenda Braxton, Adrian Bailey, DeLee Lively, Frederick Owens, Ken Ard, and Michael Park, Deb Lyons, Darryl Williams, and Ramona Keller reunited for a performance at New York's 54 Below as part of the "54 Sings Series" under direction of Braxton.

Arena Stage

The Arena Stage in Washington, DC produced the revue in The production was directed by Randy Johnson and choreographed by Parker Esse, opening on April 25, and running through June 8,

and Argentinian Productions

The revue was also produced in Argentina by G&C Entertainment, directed by Alejandro Guevara, musically directed by Daniel Landea, vocally coached by Katie Viqueira and choreographed by Delfina García Escudero.

It has its opening at Teatro La Comedia on September 7, , and ran through November 19, The Argentinian cast includes Belén Cabrera (B.J.), Cristian Centurión (Adrian), Mariano Condoluci (Victor), Emmanuel Degracia (Ken), Daniela Flombaum (Pattie), Diego Jaraz (Michael), Patrissia Lorca (DeLee), Sofía Val (Brenda) and Sebastián Ziliotto (Fred).

In , a production took place in a new season in Buenos Aires, Argentina, directed by Diego Jaraz, musical supervision by Federico Vilas, vocal coaching by Katie Viqueira, and choreographed by Delfina Garcia Escudero. It had its opening night at Sala Siranush on May 6, , closing on June 24, This Argentinian cast included Belén Cabrera (B.J.), Cristian Centurión (Adrian), Mariano Condoluci (Victor), Emmanuel Degracia (Ken), Daniela Flombaum (Pattie), Patricio Wittis (Michael), Patrissia Lorca (DeLee), Sofía Val (Brenda) and Sebastián Ziliotto (Fred).

This Argentinian production had 4 ACE Awards nominations, and 7 Hugo Awards nominations.

Revival

In Smokey Joe's Cafe was revived by the original producers, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, and Tom Viertel. The production ran at the Ogunquit Playhouse, Maine, between May 16 to June 9.

The production then opened Off-Broadway at Stage 42 with previews from July 6, opening July ^[14] The show closed on November 4 the same year.

Smokey joes cafe Body dents, dings, rust, rot, damage 10 - best 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 - worst. Too often, though, the performers are simply singing into space without any ostensible reason for being there. Retrieved 18 April Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Commons category link is on Wikidata.

Choreography and direction was done and made by Joshua Bergasse, scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, original vocal arrangements by Chapman Roberts, and orchestrations by Steve Margoshes and Sonny Paladino; however, Roberts has claimed that his original vocal arrangements were reused without his permission.^[15]

Response

The theatre critic for the magazine Variety, in reviewing the Los Angeles tryout, noted that "the songwriters, director Jerry Zaks and choreographer Joey McKneely don't do enough packaging of the material, don't go far enough taking songs first heard on transistor radios and re-imagining them for the stageThere are a couple of halfhearted [sic] attempts at structure.

The show opens and closes with the obscurity "Neighborhood," which suggests this will be a scrapbook of memories."^[4]

Ben Brantley, in his review for The New York Times wrote that the revue "is a strangely homogenized tribute to one of popular music's most protean songwriting teamsThere has obviously been a decision not to go for literal period nostalgia, so the songs are freed from their distinctive original contextsToo often, though, the performers are simply singing into space without any ostensible reason for being there."^[16]

The theatre critic for The Guardian (London), noted that the London cast consists of "acting singers rather than singing actors, which suits a show where there's almost no acting to be done.

Whew - no pesky plot development or subtexts, just a glut of glowing pop tunesThere's no attempt at chronology, or even biography."^[12]

According to Peter Marks, reviewing in The Washington Post, the revue "never quite attained smash-hit status," but it made popular the musical fashioned on the existing work of "pop composers already beloved by baby boomers."^[17]

Bob Gaudio cited Smokey Joe's Cafe as the first show that inspired him to commission Jersey Boys, as it showed that a musical with repurposed pop songs could be a success.^[18]

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

References

External links