Musical Mondays: Smoky Joe's Cafe
Last night was the opening of Smoky Joe's Cafe Off-Broadway, which was previously the longest running revue in Broadway history as it ran from 1995-2000 and had more than 2,000 performances. While the original revue was two acts and did not feature the titular song, there were some changes in the one act revival. In fact, the performances were strong, the choreography was fun, and the song choices were great. The only downside was actually a woman in the audience, who I will end the review briefly discussing.
This production had a lot of Broadway talent with Dionne D. Figgins (Hot Feet, Memphis), Kyle Taylor Parker (Kinky Boots, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and Alysha Umphress (On The Town, American Idiot). The show was stolen though by the impressive athletic choreography of Jelani Remy (Disney's The Lion King) and the performance of bass Dwayne Cooper (Motown, Hairspray.) In a revue, the focus is obviously not on the narrative and in a small cast performance the choreography doesn't have the option to be grandiose, but Remy's athleticism in the middle of an incredible Jailhouse Rock performance got one of the loudest applauses of the evening. Cooper, on the other hand, doesn't have one moment but has such a fun, deep bass voice that every moment he is given to go as low as he wants is a fun moment time and time again.
The revue is all songs by the immortal duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and the fact that they cut down the two act into a one act and were still able to retain such an incredible breadth of memorable, well-known and iconic songs is a testament to the duo's versatility and ability. The song that stood out most to me was a song that I did not know before the show, but one I've listened to several times after: Along Came Jones. It's a silly song with no emotional stakes, but it is just so, so much fun.
All of this fun made it such that nothing could have ruined my mood, though one woman did try. When the lights went down and the announcement was made to turn off phones, she took hers out to film. As it was before the show, I asked her rather loudly to put it away because it was bright and distracting. Later in the performance she tried to take a picture and her flash went off. Finally, she filmed several numbers, which again was incredibly rude to everyone around her. This is not an article to talk about theater etiquette (though I may write one eventually), but it is one of my biggest pet peeves.
If you don't know because it is your first time in the theater, that's OK. But listen to the announcement and especially listen if you're told by other people you're being distracting to others. Tickets are expensive; having manners is free. Please don't put your own thoughts, desires, and selfishness over the simple and wonderful thing you can do every day—not being a dick.
Though that woman was a nightmare, Smoky Joe's Cafe is more of a dream. It should definitely be on everyone's list for what Off-Broadway shows to see this season.