THE HANGOVER REPORT The Leiber and Stoller jukebox musical SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE is revived by Joshua Bergasse, and it’s fast and furious

Emma Degerstedt, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Dionne D. Figgins and Alysha Umphress in "Smokey Joe's Cafe" at Stage 42.

Emma Degerstedt, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Dionne D. Figgins and Alysha Umphress in “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” at Stage 42.

One of the forefathers of the jukebox musical returned to New York last night. That’s right, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, the 1995 musical featuring the immortal pop hits of the songwriting team of Leiber and Stoller (“On Broadway”, “Stand By Me”, “Hound Dog”), opened Off-Broadway last night at Stage 42 in a 90-minute intermission-less production by up-and-coming director-choreographer Joshua Bergasse.

Unlike many of the more recent crop of jukebox musicals, Smokey Joe’s Cafe refreshingly eschews force feeding a narrative to its audience. Instead, it simply lets the songs sing for themselves with just a suggestion of setting and characters. As such, the piece in many ways feels more akin to a revue than to a proper musical, and that’s just fine.

The musical has been reimagined by Mr. Bergasse as a breathless parade of production numbers that’s been choreographed to within an in of their lives. The production rockets from beginning to end – maybe too fast and furiously, as some songs could have benefited from a more relaxed approach. Nevertheless, the revival is undeniably exhilarating much of the time, especially as sung and danced by this cast. The company features some talented, eager performers, but I was especially impressed by the powerhouse vocal performances from the women – Emma Degerstedt, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Dionne D. Figgins and Alysha Umphress were forces of nature.

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SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE
Off-Broadway, Musical
Stage 42
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Open run

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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