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Health & Fitness

Smokey Joe's Cafe Serves Up Rock 'n' Roll Classics at Seven Angels Theatre

Two upcoming shows at Seven Angels

Seven Angels opened their twenty-first season with the critically acclaimed Over the Tavern, which I after attending the first preview performance. Now they continue their season with one of the best rock ‘n’ roll shows produced featuring the hits of Lieber and Stoller. Starting Nov. 10 and running through December 18, and with over thirty nine of your favorite 50s and 60s hits, Smokey Joe’s Cafe will get you dancing in the aisles! The show, in a revue style, features a fantastic cast that showcases songs that will back great memories from the heyday of rock ‘n’ roll. I can't wait to see how they will manage to fit 39 of these classic songs into this production!

Leiber and Stoller, as much as anyone, virtually invented rock ‘n’ roll, and now their songs provide the basis for an electrifying entertainment that illuminates a golden age of American culture. Featuring some of the greatest songs ever recorded, Smokey Joe’s Café isn’t just great pop music – it’s compelling musical theatre. “To the baby-boom generation, the songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are as sacrosanct as George Gershwin is to their parents.” The New York Times.

Here are just a few of the hit songs in the show:

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Ruby Baby, Dance with Me, Keep On Rollin, Searchin’, Kansas City, Trouble, Fools Fall in Love, Poison Ivy, Don Juan, I Keep Forgettin’, On Broadway, Yakety Yak, Stay a While, There Goes My Baby, Love Potion #9, Some Cats Know, Jailhouse Rock, Spanish Harlem, Stand By Me and Baby, That is Rock & Roll with many, many more.

Starring:  Paul Aguirre, Christopher Brasfield, Bobby Gouse, Monica Heuser, Sarah Ledtke, John Lynes, A’Lisa D. Miles, Housso Semon and Nicholas Ward.

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Production Staff: Director-Semina De Laurentis, Music Director- Brian Pia (recently Caractacus Potts in the Warner's smash and clearly back in the pit) Choreographer- Janine Molinari, Scenic Design-Erik D. Diaz,  Costume Design- Jimmy Johansmeyer, Lighting Design- Rich Latta, Sound Design-Matt Martin, Props Design- Jeanette Drake.

I have season tickets for the preview night of Nov. 10 and I am looking forward to seeing this show for the first time. Check their website for information regarding performance times and free food or drink nights. Bring your friends for a great night out. Special ticket prices are available for students, 35 and under and groups of 10 or more. Tickets are $25 to $42 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 203-757-4676, online at SevenAngelsTheatre.org, or at the theatre on Plank Road in Waterbury. Seven Angels Theatre is minutes off I-84 with plenty of easy and free parking.

Also coming to Seven Angels in their popular
Turn Up The Volume! play reading series

Time Stands Still
by Donald Margulies
November 15 at 7 p.m.

Time Stands Still is a compelling, contemporary drama. It tells the story of James and Sarah, a foreign correspondent and a photojournalist who cover stories about the horrors of war. But when they are injured, they must figure out if they are able to live a normal, quiet life back in the U.S. The new play explores the relationship between two couples at a crucial juncture in their lives, when the desire to move forward clashes with the instinct to stay comfortably — or even uncomfortably — in place. The play also poses some interesting and tough questions for the audience to consider. For example, how can anyone photograph maimed children, even if it’s a journalist’s responsibility, rather than rush to their aid?

My friend and Seven Angels regular Gary Rosengrant tells me that these play readings are well worth attending. Tickets can be purchased at the box office.

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