The Desert Foothills Theater has done it again, delivering outstanding community theater with its production of Smokey Joe’s Cafe. The show runs until Sunday, April 17th at the Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center. There is still time to make a special visit to “the neighborhood” and catch one of the last performances on the 15th, 16th, and 17th.
The backdrop is Smokey Joe’s Cafe where a rock ‘n’ roll band and a cast of eight showcase 39 pop standards, including rock and roll and rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It’s remarkable that so many of their songs were big pop hits, such as “Searchin’,”On Broadway,”Dance with Me,” “Charlie Brown,” “Stand by Me,” and “Yakety Yak.” During the performance of the more memorable tunes, the audience – with no prompting by the cast – added even more energy by clapping and singing along.
Smokey Joe’s Cafe is fast-paced musical revue. The 39 songs are presented by the cast members appearing solo or in various combinations. There is no dialogue. The talented cast, Kimberly Cooper-Schmidt, Jessica Frieling, Jack Lambert, Mason Reeves, Iesha Renee, Michael Schult, Joshua Vern, Skyler Washburn, and Ali Whitehall are all veterans of Valley community theater. The show’s director, T.A. Burrows, has performed in over 2,200 shows, was a regular in Las Vegas for five years, and has appeared with such stars at The Temptations, Earth, Wind, and Fire, The Pointer Sisters, and Patti LaBelle. Daniel Kurek is the show’s musical director.
Smokey Joe’s Cafe opened on Broadway in 1995. It ran for 2,036 performances, making it the longest-running musical revue in the history of Broadway. The original Broadway cast recording won a Grammy award in 1996.
For tickets and information call the DFT Box Office at 480-488-1981. The office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Saturday & Monday. Open at the theater one hour before showtime. Tickets can also be purchased online by visiting www.dftheater.org and www.azfcf.org.
Related Websites
Desert Foothills Theater, www.dftheater.org Visit Website
Desert Foothills Community Foundation, www.azfcf.org Visit Website
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