YOUNGSTOWN PLAYHOUSE 'Smokey Joe's Caf & eacute;' cooks with well-known music

Songs once performed by Elvis and The Monkees are among the many tunes.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
If you want to rock and reminisce through the '50s and '60s, then join The Youngstown Playhouse, as they present "Smokey Joe's Caf & eacute;," Broadway's longest-running musical review. The final production of the season aims to go out with a bang, filled with high energy songs, flashy dancing, fun, excitement, humor and the costumes from the original Broadway show. Set to the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller -- who wrote for such greats as Elvis Presley, The Coasters, The Drifters and even The Monkees -- it is a collection of classic tunes, sung by a group of friends as they look back on their lives.
The show has no script. "The music is the script," said music director Mark Plegge. "My goal is to make the vocals and band phenomenal." The band is a typical rock group from the '50s -- drums and percussion, rhythm and bass guitar, saxophone plus piano.
The music leads the characters through events in their lives, but they don't age through the show. "They don't start as kids and end up as adults," Plegge said. "It is more of a reunion of adults, talking about things that happened to them growing up." It is set in a neighborhood and in Act II, moves into the caf & eacute;. The scenery doesn't change much, but the characters' memories take them far and wide.
"Smokey Joe's" is about leaving home ("Searchin'," "Kansas City," "On Broadway"), falling in love ("Love Me/Don't," "Fools Fall in Love," "Loving You"), getting drunk ("D.W. Washburn," "Love Potion No. 9"), getting into trouble ("Jailhouse Rock") and coming back home ("Neighborhood," "Stand By Me"), with lots of other songs in between. The story line isn't important. It's the song and dance that has made this musical so popular.
Dancing, too
"There are some big dance numbers," Plegge said. "'D.W. Washburn,' 'Saved' and 'On Broadway' are all full group dance. 'Saved' has some big vocals, kind of a gospel feel. 'Stand By Me' is for full chorus."
There are lots of solos, too, both singing and dancing. David Jendre choreographed the show and is also the director. There are five men and four women in the cast.
But, historically, the songs have no connection. Leiber and Stoller wrote them from 1952 -- "Kansas City," sung originally by Little Willie Littlefield -- to 1974, when they wrote several songs with Raph Dino and John Sembello, such as "Neighborhood" and "Pearl's A Singer." In between those years, there was "Hound Dog," written in 1953 for Big Mama Thornton before Elvis sang it in 1956, and "D.W. Washburn," written for The Monkees in 1968. Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector wrote "Spanish Harlem" for Ben E. King in 1960, later sung by Aretha Franklin in 1971. King joined Leiber and Stoller to write "Stand By Me," which he first recorded in 1961, then later in 1986. John Lennon recorded it in 1975.
The collection of classic rock covers such a wide range of artists and eras, no matter what your age, there probably will be songs here that you recognize.
Plegge says one of his favorites is "D.W. Washburn." "Not everybody knows that one, but it has great vocal harmonies and is a big dance number."
Pianist
Plegge has been playing piano since about age 4 and has been the minister of music at Abundant Life Fellowship, a nondenominational Christian church in New Waterford, for 18 years. He also has been involved with Top Hat Productions at Fairview Arts and Outreach Center in Struthers, a nonprofit Christian theater organization, for five years.
"We did 'Smokey Joe's Caf & eacute;' there several years ago, and some of the cast members, who are also in the Playhouse production, recommended me as music director," Plegge said.
X"Smokey Joe's Caf & eacute;" opens Friday and runs through May 29. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees are at 2:30 p.m. For tickets, (330) 788-8739.