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Smokey Joe's Cafe Pyrotechnic cast lights a fire under 'Joe's' I went to a dress rehearsal of "Smokey Joe's Café" at Capital Playhouse expecting an evening of nostalgia and good ol' rock 'n' roll. I got that and much more - namely an object lesson in how to stage a musical revue. There is no story in this show, just one rocking song after another. You'd think that such a performance would be just as good as the music and no better, but you'd be wrong; it's all in the staging - sultry sets with skewed perspective, black light and smoke oozing from sidewalk grates; costumes both sexy and funny; singers who personify their songs with gesture and expression, and dance numbers that sizzle with energy. This is a parade of songs by the great '50s and '60s songwriting team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. The Broadway production of "Smokey Joe's Café" was nominated for seven Tony Awards and the cast album won the 1995 Grammy for Best Musical Show album. I have the Broadway cast album, and I think this local company could give the Broadway cast some fierce competition. The set is a city street scene with brownstones, lit like a sleazy nightclub, with a seven-piece band set up between buildings and under a catwalk. The cast comes out and takes position in silhouette in doorways and on fire escapes, still as mannequins until the band kicks off a slow-rocking, finger-snapping rendition of "Neighborhood" and the company joins in with nine-part harmony. From there the cast rapidly runs through 39 musical numbers that are both a celebration and a parody of the originals that teenagers swooned and rocked to. Lucia Ahrens has the looks and the moves of Olivia Newton-John in "Grease" and belts out ballads like a cross between Bette Midler and LeAnn Rimes. On a medley of "Love Me" and "Don't," she hit a crescendo so powerful I was sure she would rip her vocal chords. Steven Taylor, who was outstanding in Capital Playhouse's recent production of "Songs for a New World," has even more opportunities to shine in this production. His mellow voice is most effective in a hauntingly bluesy rendition of "Spanish Harlem." His dance moves are broad and athletic; he was choreographer for this production. Jarvis Antonio Green has a deep and resonant voice reminiscent of Paul Robeson, spellbinding in his duet with Ahrens on "Love Me/Don't." Deanna Barrett comes across with the innocence of a classic '50s girl next door until she gets down and dirty on a purely evil duet of "Trouble" with Pamela Taylor. Taylor is sassy and brash, and stands out on "I'm a Woman" and "You're the Boss." Bruce Haasl is the classic Elvis Presley bad boy in "Jailhouse Rock," which he performs in a delightful takeoff on the movie version. The volume and intensity of Melissa A. Backstrom's voice and her comic gestures put her in a league of her own. Another veteran of "Songs for a New World," her solo on "Saved," with backing from the entire company, turns the stage into a revival meeting. And no one, not even The King, has ever sung "Hound Dog" quite the way Backstrom does. David Devine inhabits the oily persona of a pimp on comic songs, and his incredibly high voice is breathtaking on "I (Who Have Nothing)." Agrippa Williams almost gets lost as a member of the chorus in Act I, but his pulsing bass and exaggerated comic expressions are delightful, and he gets to shine in Act II. Director Troy Arnold Fisher said, "You know that rock 'n' roll has staying power when it can survive even the homogenization that comes from being performed on Broadway." Homogenized? Yeah, maybe. And fortified with vitamins A through Zap!
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