Things Heat Up in April at ‘Smokey Joe’s Café’

Western Connecticut State University’s spring 2015 theatre arts production, “Smokey Joe’s Café” will open Wednesday, April 15, in the Studio Theatre in the Visual and Performing Arts Center on the university’s Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury.  

Broadway’s longest running musical revue, “Smokey Joe’s Café” features a red-hot evening of rock’n’roll and rhythm and blues standards by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Included will be audience favorites such as “Yakety Yak,” “I'm a Woman,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Fools Fall in Love,” “Hound Dog,” “Poison Ivy,” “Love Potion #9,” “There Goes My Baby” and “Stand By Me.” The Original Broadway Cast recording, “Smokey Joe’s Café: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller,” won a Grammy award for Best Musical Show Album in 1996.

WCSU performances will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, and Thursday, April 16; 8 p.m. on Friday, April 17, Saturday, April 18, Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25; with 2 p.m. matinees on Sunday, April 19, Saturday, April 25, and Sunday April 26. Tickets will be $20 for the public and $15 for seniors and non-WCSU students, plus fees. To purchase tickets, call (203) 837-TIXX or visit www.wcsu.edu/tickets. Because of the intimate size of the theatre, it is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance.

Performed in two acts, the show will open with “Twenty-year-old kids on the block, having fun,” said WCSU Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Julio Agustin Matos Jr. “Set on an urban street corner outside of Joe’s Café, the performers will act out small vignettes as they’re singing and dancing on the street.”

Act Two takes place inside Joe’s Café during a staged open mic night. A live, five-piece band led by WCSU Adjunct Instructor of Theatre Arts Tom Cuffari will be positioned high above the audience. Depending upon where they are seated, audience members will be pulled up to dance with the cast. (Those who do not wish to participate in the action should select row seating and avoid the bistro tables and chairs.)

Matos will direct and choreograph. He said in casting the show, “We went for the strongest stars-in-the-making. They are 11 super-talented singers and dancers who are standout performers on their own. The audience will fall in love with each one.”

The WCSU cast will include D’Jarious Allen, of Brooklyn, New York, as Adrian; Lauren Bell, of Southbury, as DeLee; Ryan Naso, of Stamford, as Frederick; Corinne Lynette Marshall, of Prospect, as BJ; Willie Marte, of Danbury, as Ken; Vanessa Knowlton, of Stafford Springs, as Brenda; Myles Tripp, of West Haven, as Victor; Margaret Buzak, of Bethel, as Pattie; and Eric Joseph Gomez, of Prospect, as Michael.  Featured dancers and understudies will be Mark-Anthony Hamblin, of Waterbury; and Alexa Haynes, of Little Hocking, Ohio. The dance captain/female swing is Emily Gray, of Southington, with Manuel Torres, of West Haven, as male swing.

For tickets or information, call the Box Office at (203) 837-TIXX or go to www.wcsu.edu/tickets.