Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller

SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE was a dazzling and captivating musical revue comprised of songs by the team of Lieber and Stoller, who unknown to me prior to this show, composed a lot of Elvis Presley's biggest hits as well as some other Tin Pan Alley classics, whose origin had escaped me prior to this show. The version I saw of this show was, according to the announcer, the final performance of this show on Broadway so I did not see the original cast, but I was more than impressed nonetheless. No characters or dialogue...just singing and dancing, one spectacular number after another. Highlights for me included "Poison Ivy", "On Broadway", "DW Washburn", "W-0-M-A-N", "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "You're the Boss", "Loving You" and topping it all was BJ Crosby's show-stopping rendition of "Say Hello to a Brand New Fool". This show is full of "I didn't know they wrote that!" moments that take you back to a different time and place in pop culture in general and musical culture in particular, when songwriters still wrote songs and singers really sang them. For musical theater fans, a joy from start to finish.

I had not seen Smokey Joe's Cafe until I got this DVD, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that after seeing it, I really couldn't get the songs out of my head! The singers are fabulous! All of them bring a wonderful energy to the show and you can tell that they truly do love their job and love performing this show! Show stopping numbers are "Trouble," "Don't," and "Don Juan," but there isn't anything too shabby about any of the others! Entertaining from beginning to end! And I will say that while I don't think Matt Bogart does the BEST of jobs on "Jailhouse Rock" he sure doesn't hurt any of the songs that he sings. He is wonderful on "Ruby" and especially great on "Teach Me How To Shimmy" (my personal favorite...next to "Spanish Harlem"!) Basically...buy it or rent it, but see this show!!!

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were a terrific songwriting team who wrote classic hits for several well-known singers for decades. The cast is the original who performed in 1995. They reunited to perform for a taped event. The songs are familiar and done well. The cast do a terrific job. If I have one complaint is that there is nothing to connect one song to each other. If you're a fan of the musical, this will be a dream come true to those who enjoyed the show live on stage. The cast and crew don't miss a beat with the music and dancing. It's an enjoyable light-hearted show overall.

I saw this in NYC right after it opened, a touring production a few years back and more recently, saw it in an intimate dinner theater cafe setting and all productions were great. This is the type of show that grows on you. You never get tired of hearing the songs if the production is good. The HBO production of the last show at the Virginia Theater was well produced and I enjoyed it very much. Deb Lyons was the only non-original cast member and I though she had the best voice. Her rendition of "Don't" with Ken Ard was a show stopper. Brenda Braxton was spot on as the sultry black woman as was DeLee Lively as the blonde chick. Does she ever stop moving? The others were adequate with the exception af Matt Bogart as the token white guy. I guess it was no coincidence that he had the fewest solos. Kind of reminds me of a play on the "Chorus Line" tune, Looks 10, Voice 2.

I saw this show live at a regional theatre in my home state of Massachusetts and fell immediately in love with it. It was a strange and pleasant coincidence that this taped version of the show's final Broadway performance was being broadcast on HBO that night. All in all, I have to say it was better live. Deb Lyons (who was in the regional production) and DeLee Lively shine as the best performers in the whole show. With Lyons' power house voice and Lively's constant movement, one would think this were the first performance. Other good good performers are Adrian Bailey, Brenda Braxton and Frederick B. Owens for their vocal talents (and Braxton in particular for her acting). Ken Ard's voice is good, but he gives off such an annoying air of egotism that got under my skin. Victor Trent Cook is a wonderful actor, but not as good a singer. B.J. Crosby tries too hard to belt her songs and too often ends up screaming incoherently. The worst performer in the whole thing is Matt Bogart. He cannot sing at all, faking his way through every song. The only things he has going for him are his looks. Regardless of all the bad, I taped this special. The show is very well put together. Smokey Joe's Cafe is quite possibly the greatest musical revue of all time.