NJPAC and New Jersey Youth Theatre Present SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, 7/18-22

From "Jailhouse Rock" to "Stand By Me," from "Spanish Harlem" to and "On Broadway," Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote some of the most enduring rock-n-roll hits ever recorded. This summer, talented high school and college-age musical actors will bring the hits to life in Smokey Joe's Café, the annual collaboration between the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Arts Education department and the New Jersey Youth Theatre (NJYT).

This year, the summer musical is going "on the road," playing at the Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University on July 18th at 12:30 p.m.; July 19th at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.; July 20th at 7:30 p.m.; July 21st at 7:30 p.m. and July 22nd at 2 p.m. Tickets range in price from $30 to $35, $20 for students 18 and under, and are available by telephone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC, at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark, or at www.njpac.org. Smokey Joe's Café is made possible in part by The McCrane Foundation; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Provident Bank; the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Discover Jersey Arts; the Lillian P. Schenck Fund; Yahoo! Employee Foundation/Silicon Valley Community Foundation; and the Westfield Foundation.

Sets, props and wardrobe operations, onstage and backstage, will be in the hands of professional designers and technicians, assisted by interns in each area. This NJPAC/NJYT production features young actors from across the metro-area who go through a rigorous audition process and learn the demands of an Actors' Equity-level rehearsal and performance. Stephen Mir, a lead in last year's Kiss Me, Kate, said, "After three years and taking part in four different shows with NJYT/NJPAC, I have a keen sense of what is professional. I've been made aware of respect and hard work."

Other Past NJPAC/NJYT Summer Musical productions include Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Ragtime: The Musical (both productions named by Peter Filichia of The Star Ledger as New Jersey's "Best Musical Revivals," in 2009 and 2006), Midnight Madness, 1776, Guys & Dolls, Anything Goes, West Side Story (recipient of the 2003 Music Theatre International "Award of Excellence"), South Pacific, Once On This Island, Brigadoon, Oliver! and Carousel.

Smokey Joe's cast members include: Chaance Barnes and Cindy Edwards of East Orange; Adam Biner of Fanwood; Erica Morreale, Maeve Lynskey and Matthew Stoke, all of Cranford; Benjamin Chavez of Rutherford; Carolyn Ferraro of Lebanon; Dion Grier of Roselle; Branden Mangan of West Orange; Kelly Plescia of Metuchen and Alex Thompson of Maplewood.

Smokey Joe's Café is directed by Cynthia Meryl of Westfield, with musical direction by Ilene Greenbaum of Livingston and choreography by Assistant Director Sherry Alban of Edison.

After closing at the Kasser, Smokey Joe's Café will tour to the Sitnick Theatre in the Lackland Performing Arts Center, home to the Centenary Stage Company in Hackettstown from July 26-29.

New Jersey Youth Theatre is one of the most celebrated youth theater companies in New Jersey, enabling young artists to receive the highest caliber, professional level theatrical experience and education possible. Performers learn musical theater by participating in a full-scale, professional level production. In addition to the NJYT/NJPAC summer program, NJYT offers classes in drama, musical theater and dance in the NJYT studio in Roselle Park from October through May. For more information, see www.njyouththeatre.org