Merrillville High School to present ‘Smokey Joe’s Café’

The Merrillville High School Performing Arts Department will present Smokey Joe's Cafe, a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll and rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

Performances are scheduled in Reinhart Auditorium, located in Merrillville High School, 276 E. 68th Pl., for 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 16, and Saturdays, April 17 and 24. In addition, there will be a matinee at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 25.

Seating will be socially distanced. Attendees should enter door M to the Hall of Flags and auditorium lobby.

For reservations and tickets, call 219-650-5307, ext. 7012.

After a Los Angeles tryout, the revue opened on Broadway in 1995, running for 2,036 performances, making it the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history. It also had a London run in 1996.

The original Broadway cast recording, Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, won a Grammy Award in 1997.