A Look Back

at the 2006-07 Weathervane Season

Smokey Joe's Cafe

a musical revue

by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

March 21 - April 15, 2007

Directed by Kevin Joseph Kelly

Leiber and Stoller wrote some of the hottest songs of the 1950s and ‘60s. Take a rocking-and-a-rolling trip down Memory Lane with this hot musical salute to these two talented American songwriters featuring such great songs as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Spanish Harlem," "Love Potion No. 9" and many, many more!

The show's original New York production – which ran for 2,036 performances between 1995 and 2000 – holds the record as the longest running musical revue in

Broadway history, and the show was nominated for seven Tony Awards.

                                  

The Ensemble

TONYA BROACH recently performed the role of Ronette in Cassidy Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors. She has been onstage also for Kalliope, the Beck Center, East Cleveland Theater, Rocky River Community Theatre, Karamu Theater and the Cleveland Play House. At Karamu, she has performed in Black Nativity and Tambourines to Glory and participated in ArenaFest, a festival of new plays written by rising playwrights. She lives in Cleveland.
BYRON BUTLER is a featured soloist and member of the Voices of Canton Choir and has travelled extensively throughout the United States and Europe. He lives in Canton.
ROB DOUGHTERTY was last seen on Weathervane’s stage as a member of the ensemble of My Way in 2003 and won a Best Actor Chanticleer for his role. Also for Weathervane, he played the role of Cliff Bradshaw in Cabaret. Rob has also performed for The Illusion Factory, Stow Players, Cleveland Signstage and Medina Showbiz. He lives in Wadsworth.
JOANNA MAY HUNKINS made her debut at Weathervane last fall in The Last Five Years. Her credits include the following productions: Urinetown, The Full Monty, Children of Eden, And the World Goes ‘Round, Footloose, Blood Brothers and A Class Act. She is a graduate of the Baldwin-Wallace College theater program. She lives in Cleveland Heights.
A native Clevelander, RUFUS MALONE, JR., is making his Weathervane debut in Smokey Joe’s Café. He is a self-employed actor/director with credits at the Cleveland Play House and Playhouse Square Center's Ohio Theater among others. He lives in Akron.
E.R. MARTIN was a telecommunications specialist in the U.S. Army for ten years and is a graduate of Maryland State University with an associate degree in communications. He lives in Akron with his wife and three children and enjoys playing the drums and being sound engineer for Community Fellowship Chapel. He lives in Akron.
KENDRA PAYNE is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in criminology and voice. She is a social worker for Lorain County Urban College. Kendra has performed at Cassidy Theatre, Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, Mad Factory and for Off the Lake Productions. She is a graduate of Elyria High School. She lives in Elyria.
Originally from Cincinnati, ALEX TEPE is currently a freshman at Kent State University. Her credits include Hot Box Girl in Guys and Dolls and Kit Kat Girl/Lulu in Cabaret.  She lives in Akron.

The Production Team

STAGE MANAGER

Steven

Meshenberg

MUSICAL

DIRECTOR

Heidi

Herczeg

CHOREOGRAPHER

Jennifer

Glowe

SCENIC DESIGNER

AND TECHNICAL

DIRECTOR

Alan Scott Ferrall

COSTUME

DESIGNERS

Randie O.

Sass

(men's

costumes)

and

David Glowe

(women's

costumes)

LIGHTING

DESIGNER

Mark A. Zimmerman

SOUND DESIGNER

Dan Jankura

PROPERTIES

DESIGNER

Karen

Burridge

ASSISTANT

TECHNICIAL

DIRECTOR

Kathy Kohl

About the Show's Director

KEVIN JOSEPH KELLY

For Weathervane Community Playhouse, Kevin directed the 2006 production of The Sound of Music. A veteran of the Northeast Ohio theater scene as both a director and an actor/singer, Kevin most recently performed in Greater Tuna at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood. He has performed in the Children's Theatre Series at the Cleveland Play House (most recently in The Wind in the Willows) and also in its Club Cabaret Series (in Walkin' My Baby Back Home). His directing credits also include mutiple productions at the Beck Center for Arts, Clague Playhouse, Rocky River Community Theater and Cassidy Theater.

Learn More on the Web

The show's official website

More about songwriters Leiber and Stoller

The show's Wikipedia entry

Facts and statistics about the show's Broadway run

Buy the DVD of the Broadway production

Buy the original cast recording

Buy the vocal selections (sheet music)