Smokey Joe's Cafe review

The legendary duo of two Americans has created in the last century a lot of hits of rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues. M. Stoller & J. Leiber with the participation of other authors wrote songs that had become a classic of their genre. That is why the idea to combine music in the general play on the scene did not seem something impossible. Even after five decades after its elaboration, the compositions did not lose fiery rhythm and enthusiasm. Review does not require any plot, as every song is a separate mini-story and is made for pure entertainment.

Two years later, after they met in 1952, Leiber and Stoller wrote a song, which has become their first hit. A few years later, they began to cooperate with Elvis Presley. In 1956, the song in his performance became a large hit. In the future, the authors have created for the legendary singer other several popular works. In total during their activity, M. Stoller and J. Leiber wrote at least 70 hits. This revue includes more than half of these items. The musical composition, after the name of which the show was headlined, included in this theatrical only partially.

Broadway production has perceived rather negative criticism. And yet, for the duration, this show became the longest amongst revues ever to appear on Broadway. It has lasted on the scene nearly five years. Box office for the weekend at the end of the show amounted to 352,715 dollars, which was lower than planned by the organizers $ 611,820. That is why the show has been closed afterwards. The Broadway production was nominated seven times for Tony and one – for the Outer Critics Circle Aw. In 1996, revue has received Grammy. West End production was nominated for 1 Laurence Olivier.

Unlike the New York revues, not singing actors took part in the London shows, but popular performers. However, critics pointed out that the lack of storyline made the audience bored at the end of the production. Despite the abundance of hits, the genre range of M. Stoller and J. Leiber can be best defined as modest. Consequently, because of this monotony, the audience began to get tired, even listening to very well-known compositions of the past decades. Productions of subsequent years continued to attract the attention of both critics and audiences. In the revue of 2012 participated finalist of musical competition ‘American Idol’ Melinda Doolittle. There are plans to revive the play on Broadway in 2017.
Last Update:July, 13th 2016

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