Product Details

• Actors: Ken Ard, Adrian Bailey, Matt Bogart, Brenda Braxton, Victor Trent Cook
• Directors: Don Roy King
• Writers: Otis Sallid
• Format: Cast Recording, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Good Times Video
• DVD Release Date: November 6, 2001
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005QW56
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,456 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #65 in	Movies & TV > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > King, B.B.
  #71 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Broadway > Musicals

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
You know that rock & roll has staying power when it can survive even the homogenization that comes from being performed on Broadway. So it is with this live performance of a Broadway revue that celebrated the music of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, one of the finest songwriting teams ever to have hits with Elvis Presley, Ben E. King, the Drifters, the Coasters, and everyone else who mattered in the early days of rock. Everything from "Hound Dog" to "Charlie Brown," from "I'm a Woman" to "On Broadway" is included in this video recording of the Broadway hit. But despite energetic performances by a cast of five men and four women, there's little of the raw and plenty of the preprocessed in a show that wouldn't be out of place in a Las Vegas showroom. They're still great songs--and even these slick performances can't diminish that. --Marshall Fine

From the Back Cover
Smokey Joe's Cafe arrives "Direct from Broadway" for another thrilling performance! Relive rock's glory days as the Tony Award-nominated Broadway smash brings down the house with 39 chart-toppers by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller. The original cast recording of Smokey Joe's Cafe also received a Grammy Award. From "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock" all the way to "Spanish Harlem" and "Kansas City," the greatest tunes of the '50s and '60s come alive in a high-energy performance that celebrates first kisses and last dances, cool songs, and red-hot rock and roll! Starring the original Tony Award-nominated Broadway cast. 103 minutes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo! Great way to capture this show's musical magic!, November 30, 2003

By	M. Joachim "Matt" (Hoboken, NJ 07030) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Usually I would complain that all these productions wait too long to film their shows. However, this DVD is of the last performance in which they brought back the original cast!

The singing talent in this show is excellent, particularly in the males. Each song is sung flawlessly with harmonies and orchestrations that, in my opinion, are improvements on the original songs and translate effectively to the stage.

Although most of the dancing is done in the first act, it is very fun to watch, hard to emulate and successfully executed.

The show was filmed in front of a live audience and filmed well, there is never any problem with not being able to see an actor on stage, nor is there a problem with people being upstaged. (Unless you want to include one person in the audience who couldn't help but standing up and applauding with their arms above their head).

The only problem I was able to notice was that the cast did seem slightly out of practice. To be more specific: In the song "On Broadway" there were problems establishing a beat as the five males in the song were trying to slow down the song in order to perform the dance steps. Also, "Poison Ivy" was, in a word, rushed.

But, overall, it is undeniable that this is probably the best recorded Broadway musical and it is a rarity to catch a show in its original cast. Also, this is rarely, if ever, on television, I would definately recommend buying it.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baby, THIS is Rock 'n' Roll!, November 6, 2003

By	Jon Hennington (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews

Rarely does a Broadway show get recorded in it's entirety, and even more rarely does this produce a good representation of what was seen live in the theatre. Smokey Joe's Cafe is about as good as it gets. As the longest running review in B'way history, Smokey Joe's Cafe brought back nearly all of it's original cast to perform for the last few weeks. I was in the audience for one of those magical last performances, and though this DVD can capture the electricity in the Virginia Theatre, it's still one amazing show! You'll love every second and you'll probably find yourself dancing in your living room when no one else is looking! Buy this DVD, if you love great music, you'll LOVE IT!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest ever!, February 23, 2002

By	MissLnyc (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

There is a reason why this show was one of the longest running on Broadway - and the dvd proves it. From the boys' cheeky 'Young Blood' to DeeLee and Brenda's raunchy 'Trouble'....the crowd pleasing 'On Broadway' to Matt and DeeLee shakin' it up in 'Teach Me How To Shimmy'....BJ and Victor hamming it up in 'Treat Me Nice' and the ball-breakin' 'Hound Dog' to the emotive 'Stand By Me' finale - the cast just nails every song brilliantly. Only downfall is perhaps the bonus features - over time this show has played host to many guest stars such as Rick Springfield, Gloria Gaynor and Gladys Knight, each bringing something wonderful as they were slotted into their roles - it would have been nice to perhaps see some highlights such as Rick's 'Jailhouse Rock' or Gladys and the girls tearing the roof off the house with 'Kansas City'.
Still, an awesome show that every stage-lover MUST have in the collection!