“Smokin!”
Jukebox musicals
come in every size, shape, and color, particularly when it comes to the use of a
range of narrative devices holding the songs together. These range from
biographical accounts of the artists represented (Beautiful,
Jersey Boys) to
fictional stories (Mamma Mia!) to
shows like the 1995 Broadway smash, Smokey Joe’s Cafe:
The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, which ran a record-breaking (for a
revue) 2,036 performances. That show, now in a rousing revival at Stage 42
(formerly the Little Shubert), has no story at all but is simply an arrangement
of popular songs by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller presented seriatim without
even a single word of dialogue.  |
| John Edwards, Jelani Remy, Dwayne Cooper, Kyle Taylor Parker. Photo: Julia Russell. |
Working on Beowulf Borrit’s elaborately detailed, two-level
barroom set representing the eponymous locale, with spiral staircases at either
side and upstage shelves filled with an assortment of vintage radios (props to
prop master Deb Gaouette!), this band of solid pros rocks through 40 solid
numbers accompanied by an eight-member band ensconced in an alcove at stage
left. Almost every song is so well done that the lack of dialogue or background
exposition—which allows for more numbers—is a blessing in disguise.
 |
| Jelani Remy, Shavey Brown, Emma Degerstedt, Dwayne Cooper, Max Sangerman. Photo: Joan Marcus. |
Director-choreographer Joshua Bergasse (Charley and the Chocolate Factory), basing his work on the original
concept of Stephen Helper and Jack Viertel, compensates for the lack of a
storyline by finding the dramatic soul of each song and theatricalizing it with
varying degrees of physical expression. Occasionally, however, an attempt to get
laughs from a song goes too far, as with “Dance with Me.” Now and then, a song
will bleed into another with suggestions of an ongoing character relationship
but this never lasts long enough to become anything substantial.
 |
| Jelani Remi, Shavey Brown, John Edwards, Max Sangerman, Dwayne Cooper (front). Photo: Joan Marcus. |
While all the performers can dance, some are virtuosos at
the art, particularly the athletic Jelani Remy, whose “Jailhouse Rock” is a
knockout; the lithe Emma Degerstedt, whose booty shaking will yank your
eyeballs out of their sockets in “Teach Me How to Shimmy,” and the slinkily
sexy Dionne T. Figgins, who sets pulses racing to songs like “Dance with Me”
and “Spanish Harlem.”
 |
| Dionne T. Figgins, Dwayne Cooper. Photo: Joan Marcus. |
Leiber and Stoller’s wide musical vocabulary has room for
traditional rock and roll (including lots of Elvis-related material), doo-wop, rhythm
and blues, country-western, and power ballads. The singing is consistently potent;
in fact, one of the show’s few drawbacks is that several gentle songs receive
overly pumped up renditions, creating a feeling akin to a TV singing
competition. For pure excitement, though, watch John Edwards explode with emotional TNT when he sings “I Who
Have Nothing,” giving Tom Jones a run for his money, or plus-sized Alysha
Umphress, looking sensational in flame-colored tresses as she blasts “Trouble”
(accompanied by bassist Yuka Tadano).
 |
| Dwayne Cooper, John Edwards, Shavey Brown, Kyle Taylor Parker (above). Photo: Gary Ng. |
Nor can we ignore guitar playing singer Max Sangerman, who
covers Elvis’s “Ruby Baby” and “Loving You,” and Kyle Taylor Parker, whose several
numbers include another Elvis favorite, “Treat Me Nice.” And even the band gets
into the act with a bring-down-the-house version of “Dueling Pianos.”
The show also has a perfect bass baritone in Dwayne Cooper, who
adds his lowdown grace notes to ensemble songs like “Charley Brown” and “Yakety
Yak,” and leads the other men in “Little Egypt.” The most remarkable chops
belong to Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, insanely good whenever her powerhouse voice detonates
with songs like “Fools Fall in Love,” “Hound Dog,” and “Saved.”
 |
| Emma Degerstedt, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Dionne T. Figgins, Alysha Umphress. Photo: Joan Marcus. |
In case you need reminding, other golden oldie anthems
included from the Leiber and Stoller songbook include “Young Blood,” “Kansas
City,” “Poison Ivy,” “On Broadway,” “I’m a Woman,” “There Goes My Baby,” “Love
Potion #9,” and the unforgettable, “Stand By Me,” favorite of crooning subway
beggars.
Cool lighting by Jeff Croiter (keep an eye on those radios
when the lights go down low) and superb, hipster-styled costumes by Alejo
Vietti, help make Smokey Joe’s Cafe a
smokin’ experience. When you see reviewers (myself included) tapping their feet
and clapping their hands at a show, you know this is one certain generations—i.e., mine and those right after—will
get a huge kick out of.
On the other hand, when I hear otherwise “woke” young
people say they’re not interested in shows like My Fair Lady, to cite one example, because it’s “old music,” I worry that Leiber and Stoller may
already sound to them like Mozart and other dead white men.
OTHER VIEWPOINTS:
Stage 42
422 W. 42nd St., NYC
Through January 6
