Bring the family to see “Smokey Joe’s Café,” at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook September 1-October 23, and stay at the nearby and affordable Best Western Plus Chicago Hotel at Hillside!
“Smokey Joe’s Café” is the longest running musical revue on Broadway. The show celebrates the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. If you don’t know those names, you sure do know their songs: “Ruby Baby,” “Kansas City,” “Fools Fall in Love,” “Trouble,” “On Broadway,” “Poison Ivy,” “Young Blood,” “Yakety Yak,” “Hound Dog,” “Love Potion #9,” and the list just goes on.
“Smokey Joe’s Café” opened on Broadway in 1995 and ran for well over two thousand performances. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards. Stars such as Gladys Knight, Rick Springfield and Lou Rawls would join the cast for cameo appearances. The cast recording won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. Plans are in place for the show to reopen on Broadway next year.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, two white kids, discovered that they could write really good pop songs for black singers. Their songs were originally recorded by The Coasters, The Drifters, The Clovers and the fabulous Big Mama Thornton.
Drury Lane Theatre is located at 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. For tickets and show times, go online to http://www.eventticketscenter.com/drury-lane-theatre-oakbrook-terrace-tickets/4283/e.
Best Western Plus Chicago Hotel at Hillside, just a stone’s throw from Drury Lane Theatre’s “Smoky Joe’s Café,” provides free shuttle service to and from O’Hare Airport in Chicago. The hotel offers affordable, comfortable rooms, a breakfast bar and restaurant and much more. The hotel is pet friendly and offers AAA rates.