Photo Flash: Smokey Joe's Cafe

The lifeline of Smokey Joe's Café, that long-running Broadway revue, resides in its high-energy delivery.  With a purely song driven format, the Cabrillo Music Theatre staged the crowd pleaser at the Countrywide Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks in a limited engagement which ends April 1.

With such recognizable melodies as "Poison Ivy," "On Broadway" and "Stand By Me," Smokey Joe's Café's lack of a recognizable book keeps it out of the inventive jukebox musicals of late including Mama Mia and Jersey Boys.  Yet what it lacks in creativity it makes up with strong performers and a toe-tapping good time.  Having music and lyrics by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and musical direction by Lloyd Cooper, Cabrillo's production is a fun musical romp with colorful staging, thanks to Paul David Bryant's direction and choreography.

Smokey Joe's Café cast includes Stephanie Burkett, Karen McClaian, Dion Mial, Reign Morton, Niles Rivers, Michael Shepperd, Leslie Spencer Smith, Alistair Tober and Nataly Wright.  For more information on this and future productions, visit www.cabrillomusictheatre.com.

Photos by Ed Krieger, Cabrillo Music Theatre.

Michael Shepperd, Niles Rivers, Dion Mial, Alistair Tober and Reign Morton.

Cast

Alistair Tober and Stephanie Burkett Gerson

Nataly Wright, Karen McClain, Leslie Spencer Smith and Stephanie Burkett Gerson.