Night Clubs Reviews

Jul 24, 2000 - "Smokey Joe's Cafe" Heats Up Harrah's Southshore Room

By Jack Neal

"Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller" is an exuberant feast of prime 50s and 60s tunes, directed with down-the-stretch speed by Jerry Zaks and sold with foot-in-the-door salesmanship by a super-sales cast of four gals and five guys.

"Smokey Joe's," a show that just keeps getting better as it becomes more vintage, is playing Harrah's Southshore Room twice nightly through October 1 (2000). Everything, save a mildly strident sound system, is as shipshape as ever. The invention of Joey McNeely's musical staging entertains as always in a big way, Paul Gallo's lighting glows with energy, Heidi Ettinger's sleek, attractive set gives the show its unrestrained freedom to roam and William Ivey Long's costumes are shrewdly tailored for a show that's filled with fun and dance.

As much as anybody Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller invented rock n roll. To imagine 50s pop music without their high-gear tunes such as "Kansas City," "Searchin'," "Love Potion #9," "There Goes My Baby," "Jailhouse Rock," "Love Me," "Yakety Yak" and "Hound Dog" is to turn back the clock to the pre-Coasters and Elvis music of the 40s.

But the music's wit and the cast's verve carry "Smokey Joe's" past nostalgia and into the upper echelons of pop musical and theatrical experiences. Zaks and McNeely have made "Smokey Joe's Cafe" as consistently colorful and jaunty as the Day-Glo zoot suits that come to life and strut their stuff through the "Shoppin' For Clothes" number. When the show's cast isn't executing brief parodies of the goofy footwork done by every backup group in the 50s, they're dancing sensuously to Leiber and Stoller's slow tempo stuff or, in a gorgeous version of "Spanish Harlem," bring a haunting moment of ballet to the cabaret stage.

Desmond Dent, who sings and dances, and Danielle Garner, who dances with charm and grace, do the honors for "Spanish Harlem" and they're superb. And the rest of the cast hold their own handsomely."Don Juan" gets the full feather-boa treatment from a sexy and droll Miss Garner, who acts and sings as sumptuously as she looks. Careen Hudgins has her impressive way with the ultra sultry "Pearl's a Singer." When Kathleen Jackson cuts loose on the gospellish "Saved," "Smokey Joe's" isn't just a revival of tunes it's a tent meeting revival that sails and soars.

The pliable Freddy Moretine gyrates rambunctiously through a dance-'til-you-drop "Jailhouse Rock," then has a field day with the shimmying Kristin Gorman ("Teach Me How to Shimmy") who sings and dances every bit as well as she quakes and shakes. A very musical Darryl Williams croons sweetly on "Stand By Me." John Woodward III brings a rich sound and a nice comic touch to "You're the Boss." And Charles Johnson and Miss Hudgins give "Love Me Don't" just the right nudge into tongue-in-cheek domesticity.

Whatever these hard-working singers and dancers do, and they're all very, very busy, the first-rate talents that make "Smokey Joe's Cafe" spin twice nightly are nothing less than a sharp and snazzy cast that's too good to miss. Also too good to miss, Steve Margoshes orchestrations conducted at Harrah's by Louis St. Louis, whose excellent on-stage band is an integral and exceptional part of this splendid production.

"Smokey Joe's Cafe" plays Harrah's Lake Tahoe Southshore Room through October 1 (2000). For information call 1-800-HARRAHS (427-7247).