Nostalgia gets a loving nod in "Smokey Joe's Café," now playing at the 5th Avenue Theatre. This energetic and infectious Broadway musical revue will have you tapping your toes, maybe even singing along - especially if you are a certain age.
Years before Billy Joel and ABBA strutted their stuff on the Great White Way, Broadway paid tribute to rock 'n' roll songwriting legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. "Smokey Joe's Café" delivers 39 tunes in two acts with a mix of humor, heart, sass and sex.
When "Smokey Joe's Café" opened on Broadway in 1995, naysayers predicted an early demise; they soon had to eat their words. Audiences kept the feel-good revue running for almost five years. For one reason: The music made people happy, even giddy.
You may not know all the songs. Some are more familiar than others. "Hound Dog," "Loving You" and "Jailhouse Rock" helped make Presley into the King of Rock. And while Tom Jones turned "I Who Have Nothing" into one of his signature songs, Peggy Lee put her sultry, detached stamp on "Some Cats Know." Then there are tunes like "Yakety Yak," "Poison Ivy," "Kansas City," "Charlie Brown" "Stand By Me" and "Love Potion No. 9." You'll hear them all in "Smokey Joe's Café."
Directed by Bill Berry, 5th Avenue 's entertaining production doesn't disappoint. The talented cast of nine - five men, four women - deliver personality-plus and dazzling vocal clout. Act one has the musical team reliving their teen years, and in Act Two the fabulous nine return with an older-but-wiser perspective.
A men's quartet, made up of Brandon O'Neill, Bobby Hardy, Ty Willis and Marc Cedric Smith, easily captures that "Drifters" sound as they croon "Dance With Me," "Keep on Rollin" and a showstopping, sequin-and-tuxedo rendition of "On Broadway." Local favorite Louis Hobson joins the quartet for a series of songs and solos. And their female counterparts, Lisa Estridge, Charlie Parker, Sarah Rudinoff and Billie Wildrick, kick up their heels on "I'm a Woman."
Over the course of two hours, each singer steps into the solo spotlight in a star turn. Hardy, making his 5th Avenue debut, touts his easy-listening tenor on songs like "Loving You," while Willis and Parker elegantly trade tunes in a medley of "Love Me" and "Don't."
Smith, a swell-sounding bass with a smooth style and even smoother moves, hits paydirt with his rendition of "Little Egypt." Brandon O'Neill sells "There Goes My Baby' with impassioned vocal panache. And Louis Hobson breaks your heart a bit with the story-song "Spanish Harlem," followed by his pelvis-power in the gyrating Elvis hit "Jailhouse Rock."
As a trio, Parker, Rudinoff and Estridge make "Some Cats Know" into a delicious meow as they primp, preen and harmonize in a lavatory setting. Taking center stage, Wildrick shows off her chutzpah and luscious layers of purple fringe in "Shimmy."
Director Berry's staging keeps the musical numbers and transitions moving with imagination and flair, while conductor R. J. Tancioco leads a fabulous on-stage band. And Dewey Marler deserves a standing ovation for his sexy, wailing saxophone.
The scenes shift via retro costumes and flashy lighting, from a high-school class to a prom to a bus station, nightclub and Broadway dressing room. And it all happens on a series of scaffoldings and staircases designed by Tom Sturge and Jeffrey Cook.
If you like rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues, "Smokey Joe's" proves irresistible fun. It's perfect for the whole family.
"Smokey Joe's Cafe" runs Tuesday to Sunday through Nov. 7 at 5th Avenue Theatre. Tickets $18-$70 through Ticketmaster, 292-2787.
Freelance writer Starla Smith is a Queen Anne resident. Before moving to Seattle from New York , Smith was a Broadway journalist and Tony voter.[[In-content Ad]]
