Wayne Brady, Emily Padgett, Aisha Jackson, Chester Gregory and Alysha Umphress are among the cast of a developmental reading of Smokey Joe鈥檚 Caf茅, 半岛体育.com has learned.
Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel and Tom Viertel, who ushered the show to Broadway in 1995, confirmed August 23 that there will be invited presentations of selections from the musical revue in September in anticipation of a Broadway production to be announced. Cast members began posting about their first day of rehearsal August 22.
The cast also includes Dwayne Cooper, J. Daughtry, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz and Ben Thompson.
Directed by John Rando, the presentation will feature musical direction by Sonny Paladino and choreography by Joshua Bergasse.
The Tony Award-nominated musical revue, featuring the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was initially announced for this summer.
, 鈥攚ho was Tony-nominated for his direction of the 1995 production鈥攚as again to take the helm of the New York City revival. Tony Award winner () was to choreograph with musical direction by Paladino.
The revue features some of Leiber and Stoller's best known songs including 鈥淜ansas City,鈥� 鈥淪earchin',鈥� 鈥淥n Broadway,鈥� 鈥滻'm A Woman,鈥� 鈥漃oison Ivy,鈥� 鈥漎akety Yak,鈥� 鈥滳harlie Brown,鈥� 鈥滼ailhouse Rock鈥� and 鈥淗ound Dog.鈥�
Cast members from the original production reunited Feb. 9, 2014鈥攅xactly 19 years following its first performance on Feb. 9, 1995鈥攆or a concert production at Feinstein's/54 Below under the direction of Tony nominee . . Smokey Joe's Caf茅 was eagerly embraced by audiences despite initial skepticism in the press when it opened. The show ran 2,036 performances; Smokey opened March 2, 1995, and closed Jan. 16, 2000.
It was nominated for seven 1995 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography (), Best Direction (Zaks), Best Featured Actor (), Best Featured Actress (Lively, Braxton and ) and Best Musical.
