Theater Review: 'Smokey Joe’s Cafe' at Ivoryton Playhouse

Ivoryton - Ivoryton Playhouse is presenting “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” a musical revue that features a comprehensive list of the songs of Leiber and Stoller. The show includes “Young Blood,” “Kansas City,” “Yakety Yak,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Love Potion #9,” “Stand By Me,” and my personal favorites “On Broadway” and “I’m A Woman..” just to name a few of the 39 songs that are performed. All of the musical numbers were written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, either alone or with others, except for “Spanish Harlem,” which was written by Phil Spector and Leiber.

The pair began their songwriting partnership in 1950 when they discovered that they shared a passion for Boogie Woogie and the Blues. This show makes it very clear that their contributions as songwriter and record producers did not start or stop with the iconic “Hound Dog.” Their work has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly.

Don’t attend “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” expecting a plot. This is a completely sung through musical revue, with almost no spoken dialogue. The musical numbers are performed back to back, with solos, leads with backup singing and dancing, quartets and well-prepared numbers with the entire company of nine, most featuring tight harmonies.

The musicians that become a part of the action in the second act are seated at the rear of the Playhouse stage, behind the doors of a vintage store front. Dressed in all black, the six musicians can be seen working their magic on their instruments under the direction of Mike Morris, who covers keyboard one. Mark Gehret plays electric and a unique upright bass, Alex Giosa plays drums and percussion, Dan Hartington plays guitar, Michael Paglione plays saxophone and Andrew Wilcox plays keyboard two. During the curtain speech, patrons seated on the lower level of the building were invited to turn around and notice the conductor on the monitor at the rear of the house.

Todd L. Underwood worked with the cast as director and choreographer and did a very good job of bringing the songs to life. His past productions include “Having Our Say” and “Memphis” (Connecticut Critics Circle nomination.)

This is a truly ensemble cast that brought great stage presence along with their vocal gifts and fine dancing skills. All of them brought everything they have to their performances, many of them making their Ivoryton debut. Their roles have names, but are really unnecessary.

The cast includes Joseph Castro, Elvie Ellis (national tour of “Waitress,”) Equity actress Debra Thais Evans (MotorMouth Maybelle on the national tour of “Hairspray,”) Equity’s Tiffany Frances (“Ain’t Too Proud” on Broadway,) and Cameron Loyal (first national tour of “An Officer and a Gentleman: The Musical.”)

Also shining in the cast is Equity actress Sandra Marante, an Equity actress, Gabriella Saramago (“Godspell” at Ivoryton) and Equity’s Warren Nolan, Jr. (national tour of “Rent.”)

I could have picked out Equity member Cartreze Tucker (national tour of “The Color Purple”) as the dance captain, even if it was not noted in the program.

The costumes, wig and hair design by Elizabeth A. Saylor (“Native Gardens”) is both flattering and interesting to look at. There are base outfits that are supplemented with add-on pieces in the first (more casual) act and the performers change into more fancy costumes for the second half. This is a memorable collection of beautiful costumes.

Some of the best choreography is on display during “Young Blood” and “On Broadway, but there is plenty of dancing that adds to many of the numbers, all performed well by the eight performers. The more comedic songs included “Poison Ivy,” and “D.W. Washburn.” The scenic design by Cully Long is a unique vintage storefront that evokes a city and everything is nicely lit with the lighting designed by Marcus Abbot.

Many of the voices heard in this production will be part of Ivoryton’s “Sounds of the '70's,” a cabaret performance on July 11 at 7:30 p.m. Next up at Ivoryton will be “Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash” that opens in August. “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” runs through July 31 The playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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