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Leiber
and Stoller are the Rodgers and Hammerstein of Rock'n'Roll."
WCBS-FM
"To the baby-boom
generation, the songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
are as sacrosanct as George Gershwin is to their parents."
The New York Times, 1998
Once you
see this high-energy songfest, the longest-running revue in
Broadway history, winner of the Grammy award
for Best Show Album, producing five Tony nominations
AND Tony-winner for Best Musical of 1995, you may
want to get a friend a ticket—or at least give them a quick
call.
Don’t wait too long.
THOSE AMAZING GUYS
For
too many years Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were the song
writing team that everybody loved but nobody recognized.
During their career they have written some of the most
spirited and enduring rock and roll songs: “Hound Dog,” “Love
Potion No. 9,” ,“Kansas
City,”
“On Broadway,”
“Ruby Baby,” and “Stand By Me." Their vast catalog
includes virtually every major hit by The Coasters (e.g., “Searchin’,”
“Young Blood,” “Charlie Brown,” “Yakety Yak” and “Poison
Ivy") and The Drifters (“Stand By Me, “On Broadway.” and
“Spanish Harlem”) They
also worked their magic on Elvis Presley, writing “Jailhouse
Rock,” and “Treat Me Nice” and 18 more specifically for him.
Listing every
artist or group that recorded their songs would
make a chapter in a music history book,
but here are a few:
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The
Righteous Brothers, Buddy Holley, Little Richard, James
Brown, Fats Domino, Bobby Darin, BB King. Lou Rawls, Johnny
Mathis, Barbara Streisand and, well, the list goes on.
Those
“amazing guys” were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1987.
NOMINATED
FOR BEST MUSICAL
With 2,036
performances, Smokey Joe’s Café showcases 39
hits of this song
writing duo. Each one is a self-contained storyline
written around a sturdy, hummable melodic hook. The classic
themes of love won, lost and imagined, dovetail with great
performances and slice-of-life cameos. The music is
foot-tapping and hand-clapping and
we guarantee you’ll want to sing along at times .During
its run, the cast included special appearances by a
variety of popular recording artists, including Gladys
Knight, Gloria Gaynor and Ben E. King.
OUR PRODUCTION
TEAM
And what a
cast! Both Heather Beirne (Davenport)
and Eileen Lymus-Sanders (Tampa)
have performed the show before—twice! Other newcomers
include Steven Gatewood from Lakeland ( Bettlejuice show at Universal) and
Chis Blakmon is a performer at Busch
Gardens. Local tenor Vincent
Miller (Jekyll & Hyde, Big
River, Little Shop of Horrors)
tackles the high notes while returning
Harrison alum Scottie McLaughlin (Lion in
our ’98 Wizard of Oz and the International tour of
Rent) returns from NYC to take the bass parts.
Harrison
theatre majors Sibohan Gale (Nimue in Camelot)
and Dereck Seay (Frederich in Pirates of
Penzance) join the cast, and Jennifer
Marshall (last season’s Best Featured Actress) doubles as
cast member and choreographer.
Alan Reynolds
designs the neon-flavored set while Camille McClellan
provides the many costumes.
Don Hopkinson, Jr. leads the band.
Southeastern
University tech director
Bryan Macke will give the show its many lights. Stage
management duties are handled by Connie Williamson and
Jeremy Chase. Producing Director Norm Small directs the
show.
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