Tony Dagnan and Jennifer Smalley with Randy Forester looking on. Click to enlarge.
When I first got wind of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s musical Smokey Joe’s Café was coming to town I was a little worried. A friend of mine reported to me that the Back Stage Dinner Theatre on Brainerd Road was closing down. I was told there was a sign on the front saying “Smokey Joe’s Café Coming in September.” My friend was convinced Chattanooga was losing a theatre and gaining a new eatery.
Well, it turns out “Smokey Joe” was coming to town after all, but there was nothing to be concerned about. That was just the name of the show that was coming in September. It was just the latest edition of the Back Stage’s always varied season.
Smokey Joe’s Café is a revue in every sense of the word highlighting the vastly prolific songwriting career of the team of Leiber and Stoller, two of the major contributors to the rock and roll library of hits. These gentleman wrote songs for just about everybody singing from the 1950’s on, including Johnny Mathis, the Coasters, the Drifters, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and, of course, none other than “The King” himself, Elvis Presley. They took the basic 50’s record hop rock sound and gave it some uptown gas, as well as a little R&B seasoning and a pinch of pure wit. They provided such numbers as “Kansas City,” “Poison Ivy,” “On Broadway,” “Charlie Brown,” “There Goes My Baby,” “Love Potion Number Nine,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Spanish Harlem,” “I (Who Have Nothing),” “Stand By Me,” and the inimitable “Hound Dog.”
Take their songs away, and there would be a lot of holes on a lot of albums.
They never recorded themselves. They just wrote for other people, and if you take a look at their discography, there must have been a line out the door at all times begging for a new one.
The Back Stage production, directed by Randy Forester with musical direction by Dale Wallace, is a collection of highlights and lowlights. Think of it as a baseball game with lots of singles, extra base hits, bunts, pop flies, foul balls, a few strike-outs, some double-plays, an ejection or two, and an occasional home run (“I’m A Woman”). Consistency was not in the cards for these folks.
The biggest single issue I have with the production is that someone needs to look at the title of the show and just think a little about what it implies. What kind of establishment would a guy named “Smokey Joe” operate? What kind of atmosphere would it have? How do you create it? How do you create it for very little money?
Right from the start, it needs to be the atmosphere of a café, or the through-line, which is the late night city world from which these songs emanate, and it just isn’t there. “Smokey Joe’s” also may be the kind of place a guy would bring his “special” date for a special time. Romance and seduction would never leave the air. Most guys I know, when that is the agenda, see if they can keep the lights down very low. All movement is very economical and with a purpose. The atmosphere should prevail before, during, and after the show.
The singers get up alone, in pairs, or in groups to do the songs. Dialogue isn’t needed. The songs speak for themselves. The audience can enjoy the nostalgia, or they can enjoy the room as it evolves.
Cast members Jill Hawkins, Ashley Smalley, Laura Marshall, and Jennifer White generally shine throughout, as they go through a myriad of contortions, gyrations, and variations of basic female slink. They pretty much confirm what Grandma was worrying about when Elvis arrived in the 1950’s. Yes, the young folk were thinking about sex all along. Ed Sullivan undermined the moral fiber of this nation more than any communist ever did by letting that sinner get on national television. Change the channel, Grandpa.
Tony Dagnan, also in the cast, is clearly one of the brightest lights on any Chattanooga stage right now. We are talking star potential here. He needs to work with a greater variety of talented artists so he can expand his horizons and develop what is already a dazzling capability.
All in all, the show has tons of energy and lacks polish, but polish you can get down at the hardware store. Energy you have to find sometimes by invading other countries. I’d say it all depends on what you are looking for and what you lack right now in your own life. If polish has never lost its appeal, then this might not be your cup of tea (assuming they would serve something so tame at Smokey Joe’s), but if energy is what you yearn for, then the folks at Back Stage will gladly oblige.
Back Stage has added Sunday matinees at 2:15 to their existing Friday and Saturday evening schedule. Call 629-1565 for reservations.
Cast members Laura Marshall, Jill Hawkins, Ashley Smalley and Jennifer White