SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE
A benefit for Rivertown Film at Elmwood Playhouse
May 28th
Dessert and Wine at 7:30, Performance at 8:00
Songs by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Directed by Cal Chiang
A celebration of rock & roll and rhythm & blues through song and dance. This all singing, all dancing, award winning musical revue of the beloved rock ‘n’ roll songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller features “Love Potion #9”, “On Broadway”, “I’m a Woman”, “Yakety Yak”, and 35 more memorable pop hits. This fully staged live performance by amazing rhythm and blues, rock & roll vocalists is a guaranteed evening of pure enjoyment.
Doors open at 7:30 for dessert by Patisserie Didier Dumas and wine by Avida Wine Bar.
Come with friends and share the soundtrack to your memories of the twentieth century, or bring your kids and surprise them with an education in great American music.
This performance will sell out so reserve now for a memorable evening, and thanks too for supporting Rivertown Film.
Tickets are $30. Seating is limited so order in advance, here.
In 1995, Smokey Joe’s Cafe: The Songs of Leiber & Stoller opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. Comprised of forty songs by L&S, the show was nominated for seven Tony Awards and won the Grammy Award for best Original Cast Album. Smokey Joe’s Cafe would run for over five years, becoming the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history. Leiber & Stoller continued to work on songs for musical theater projects until Jerry Leiber’s passing in August, 2011.
If they had written no other song but “Hound Dog,” the names of Leiber and Stoller would still have been indelibly written in the history of popular music. However, they didn’t start or stop there. Their contributions as songwriters and record producers have been so monumental that it is impossible to envision what American popular music would be like today without them. —Randy Poe, LeiberStoller.com
