Combining pop, blues, and a whole lot of rock and roll with a nightclub vibe, Union City high school kids are putting on the Broadway hit Smokey Joe’s Café at Jose Marti Middle School at 1800 Summit Ave. next weekend.
The show will open on Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m. and run again on Saturday, April 25 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 26 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available at the door and are $12 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. For more information, call (201) 348-5936.
“A show like this gives everybody a chance to show off.” – Jack O’Connor
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“A show like this gives everybody a chance to show off,” said Jack O’Connor, the director of the production and the drama teacher at Union City High School North. “There is no star.”
O’Connor said that he hadn’t even given the show a thought until a colleague suggested it, and after he played some of the music for his students and they liked it, the show was definite.
“They are embracing music that was written before they were even born,” said O’Connor. “As much as I complain that the kids live in the present and everything is here and now with technology, you put them in something like this and it shows there is a place for history, for American culture.”
More like a concert and less like a drama with a story line, the show has been tough to direct, said O’Connor.
“In a traditional musical, the songs advance the plot,” he said. “This is just the songs. There is no plot, so you try to create a world that a modern audience can relate to through these old songs.”
Another challenge, he said, was teaching the kids how to move in the style particular to that time.
“I think because their concept of dancing in this community is a lot of Latin dance and that choreography like this is very specific to another time,” said O’Connor.
He did have help, though, from sophomore Emma Russo, who volunteered to double as the student choreographer.
“I had to be very patient,” said Russo, “and it felt cool to have a little power.” She added that she liked being able to work with everyone on their performances, and that it made her happy to see her efforts materialize on stage.
Other students also said that the show brought them closer together and that it was fun learning about music from decades ago.
“I think it gives us a good view of what our parents and maybe some of our teachers, what they grew up with,” said junior Justin Perez. “It’s really fun to sing the songs that they know. [The songs] are really familiar. I know some of them, too.”
Sophomore Eric Macullok said that in addition to listening to the music and researching the dance moves, he learned that being on stage is hard work.
“I never knew that acting could be so tiring,” he said. “You actually move a lot.”
The production’s drummer, junior Jonathan Quintana, said that he also pushed his limits and discovered that he could play a lot better than he thought.
“I actually recently found out I can play certain things that I have never played before,” he said. Also, after watching a few of the performances from his stool, Quintana decided he, too, wanted sing and dance in the show, the director said.
“He has never acted before, but he decided after watching the guys do the group stuff that he wanted to be in a few, so he is in a few,” said O’Connor.
The crew also includes a student costume designer, junior Jacquelin Guevara, who described the performers’ attire as “very outrageous, very colorful.”
Amanda Staab can be reached at astaab@hudsonreporter.com.