Five Guys Named Moe
Encyclopedia
Five Guys Named Moe is a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 with a book by Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters is an American actor, singer, writer and director best known for his role as Detective Lester Freamon on the HBO drama The Wire.-Early life:...

 and lyrics and music by Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...

 and others. The musical originated in the UK in 1990 at Theatre Royal Stratford East, running for over four years in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

, and then premiering on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in 1992. It was revived in 2010 at Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...

, starring Peters himself, and will return later this year to the theatre in which it originally premiered. The musical won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.

Nomax, whose girlfriend has left him and who is without money, finds Big Moe, Four-Eyed Moe, Eat Moe, No Moe, and Little Moe emerging from his 1930s-style radio to comfort him. They sing the hit songs of songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and saxophonist Louis Jordan, whose new slant on jazz paved the way for rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 in the 1950s.

Production history

The musical was originally presented at the Theatre Royal Stratford East
Theatre Royal Stratford East
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company.-History:...

 by Philip Hedley as an in-house production. Cameron Mackintosh
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...

 opened it on 14 December 1990 at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...

. The original Stratford East cast of Kenny Andrews, Paul J. Medford, Peter Alex Newton, Omar F. Okai, and Dig Wayne, were joined by Clinton Derricks-Carroll replacing Clarke Peters, all transferred with the production where it ran until 4 March 1995. It re-opened at the Albery Theatre on 25 May 1995 where it was recorded for commercial DVD with the following cast: Tee Jaye Jenkins, Trent Kendall, Monroe Kent III (Nomax), Jason Pennycooke, Richard D. Sharp and Feruma Williams. The production ran with this cast until 13 January 1996.

The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production, directed and choreographed by Charles Augins
Charles Augins
Charles Augins is an American actor, dancer and choreographer for stage and screen. Born in Virginia he won the Laurence Olivier Theater award in 1991 for Best Choreography in Five Guys Named Moe. He had a small role in Revenge of the Pink Panther as Vic Vancouver. He is best known for playing...

, opened on 8 April 1992 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Eugene O'Neill Theatre
The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was built for the Shuberts as part of a theatre-hotel complex named for 19th century tragedian Edwin Forrest...

, where it ran for 445 performances and 19 previews. The cast included Jerry Dixon, Doug Eskew, Milton Craig Nealy, Kevin Ramsey, Jeffrey D. Sams
Jeffrey D. Sams
Jeffrey D. Sams is an American actor known primarily for his television work.A native of Ohio, Sams has been a main cast member of several television series, few of which have made it past their first season...

, and Glenn Turner.

The "Moe" band was: Reginald Royal, piano; Luico Hopper, bass; Brian Kirk, drums; Reggie Pittman, trumpet & flugelhorn; Gregory Charles Royal
Gregory Charles Royal
Gregory Charles Royal is an American musician, composer, author, and a judge on America's Hot Musician, as well as a plaintiff in a 2009 lawsuit against Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.- Biography :...

, trombone; and Mark Gross
Mark Gross
Mark Gross is a Baltimore-born jazz alto saxophonist. He studied at the Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1988, then worked in the band of Lionel Hampton, performing in Five Guys Named Moe on Broadway...

, saxophone and clarinet.

Original cast recordings from both the London and Broadway productions were released.

The 2010 Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...

/West End production, directed by Paulette Randall
Paulette Randall
Paulette Randall, is a British theatre director. She chairs the board of the Clean Break Theatre Company, and is former artistic director of the Talawa Theatre Company.-Projects:Royal Court Theatre* Directed Blest be the Tie by Doña Daley...

 and starring Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters is an American actor, singer, writer and director best known for his role as Detective Lester Freamon on the HBO drama The Wire.-Early life:...

 himself as Nomax, as well as Ashley Campbell, Christopher Colquhoun
Christopher Colquhoun
Christopher Colquhoun is an English actor who trained at RADA. He is most famous for appearing as Simon Kaminski in the BBC drama series Casualty, from 2002 to 2004...

, Carlton Connell, Paul Hazel and Horace Oliver as the Moes opened on 5th August 2010.

Song list

Act I
  • "Early in the Morning
    Early in the Mornin' (Louis Jordan song)
    "Early in the Mornin" or "Early in the Morning" is a song that was recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five in 1947. It is an early example of a blues which incorporates Afro-Cuban rhythms and percussive instruments...

    " (Music and Lyrics by Jordan, Leo Hickman, and Dallas Bartley)
  • "Five Guys Named Moe" (Music and Lyrics by Larry Wynn and Jerry Bresler
    Jerry Bresler
    Jerry Bresler was a songwriter, with one of his most famous compositions being "Five Guys Named Moe". He won an Oscar and subsequently had two other nominations for his two-reel short films....

    )
  • "Beware Brother Beware" (Music and Lyrics by Morry Lasco, Dick Adams, and Fleecie Moore)
  • "I Like 'em Fat Like That" (Music and Lyrics by Claude Demetrius
    Claude Demetrius
    Claude Demetrius was an African American songwriter.Born in Bath, Maine, by his early twenties he was in New York City writing music for and/or with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Witherspoon and B.B. King. Demetrius wrote the 1945 musical comedy short film Open the Door, Richard...

     and Jordan)
  • "Messy Bessy" (Music and Lyrics by Jon Hendricks
    Jon Hendricks
    Jon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...

    )
  • "Pettin' and Pokin'" (Music and Lyrics by Lora Lee)
  • "Life Is So Peculiar" (Music and Lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

     and Jimmy Van Heusen)
  • "I Know What I've Got" (Music and Lyrics by Sid Robin and Jordan)
  • "Azure Te" (Music and Lyrics by Bill Davis
    Wild Bill Davis
    Wild Bill Davis was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis.Davis was born in Glasgow, Missouri...

     and Don Wolf)
  • "Safe, Sane and Single" (Music and Lyrics by Jordan, Johnny Lange
    Johnny Lange
    Johnny Lange was a songwriter, author and publisher. He was educated in a Philadelphia high school. He joined the music staff at film studios in 1937 and resumed his film music career in 1946 and 1947. He also wrote special material for night club singers, and the "Ice Capades of 1950"...

    , and Hy Heath
    Hy Heath
    Songwriter, composer and author Hy Heath was educated in public schools and then became a comedian in musical comedy, vaudeville, minstrel and burlesque shows. His chief musical collaborators included Johnny Lange and Fred Rose. His most successful composition was 'Mule Train' which earned him an...

    )
  • "Push Ka Pi Shi Pie" (Music and Lyrics by Jordan, Joe Willoughby, Walt Merrick)


Act II
  • "Saturday Night Fish Fry
    Saturday Night Fish Fry
    Saturday Night Fish Fry is a popular song, written by Louis Jordan and Ellis Lawrence Walsh , best known through the version recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five....

    " (Music and Lyrics by Ellis Walsh and Jordan)
  • "What's the Use of Getting Sober
    What's the Use of Getting Sober
    "What's the Use of Getting Sober" is a 1942 novelty song by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five. The song was Louis Jordan's second release and the first of eighteen number ones on the R&B chart...

    " (Music and lyrics by Busby Meyers)
  • "If I Had Any Sense (I'd Go Back Home" (Music and Lyrics by R. McCoy
  • "Dad Gum Your Hide Boy" (Music and Lyrics by Browley Bri)
  • "Let the Good Times Roll
    Let the Good Times Roll (Louis Jordan song)
    "Let the Good Times Roll" is a song was recorded in 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, and became a # 2 hit on the R&B chart in the United States....

    " (Music and Lyrics by Fleecie Moore and Sam Theard)
  • "Reet, Petite and Gone" (Music and Lyrics by Spencer Lee and Jordan)
  • "Caldonia
    Caldonia
    "Caldonia" is a jump blues song, first recorded in 1945 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. A version by Erskine Hawkins, also in 1945, was described by Billboard magazine as "rock and roll", the first time that phrase was used in print to describe any style of music.-Louis Jordan recording:In...

    " (Music and Lyrics by Fleecie Moore)
  • "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens
    Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens
    "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" is a 1946 song, with music and lyrics by Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney. It was recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five. The single hit number one on the...

    " (Music and Lyrics by Joan Whitney
    Joan Whitney Kramer
    Joan Whitney Kramer was an American singer and songwriter.She was born as Zoe Parenteau in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended Finch College in New York City. In 1934, while playing a showgirl in The Great Waltz on Broadway, she took the stage name Joan Whitney...

     and Alex Kramer
    Alex Kramer (songwriter)
    Alex J. Kramer was a Canadian songwriter....

    )
  • "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (Music and Lyrics by Jo Greene)
  • "Choo, Choo, Ch'boogie
    Choo Choo Ch'Boogie
    "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is a popular song first recorded in January 1946 by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five. It topped the R&B charts for 18 weeks from August 1946, a record only equalled by one other hit, "The Honeydripper"...

    " (Music and Lyrics by Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, and Milton Gabler)
  • "Look Out Sister" (Music and Lyrics by Sid Robin and Jordan)
  • "Hurry Home" (Music and Lyrics by Joseph Meyer
    Joseph Meyer (songwriter)
    Joseph Meyer was an American songwriter who wrote some of the most notable songs of the first half of the twentieth century....

    , Buddy Bernier
    Buddy Bernier
    Henry 'Buddy' Bernier was an American lyricist, mainly active during the 1940s and 50s.Born in Watertown, New York, Bernier is perhaps best remembered for Poinciana, written with composer Nat Simon, first introduced in the 1952 film Dreamboat which subsequently became a standard covered by artists...

    , and Robert Emmerich)
  • "Is You Is or Is You Ain't Ma' Baby
    Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby
    "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" is a 1944 Louis Jordan song, released as the B-side of single with "G.I. Jive". "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" reached #1 on the US folk/country charts. The Louis Jordan recording also peaked at number two for three weeks on the pop chart and peaked at...

    " (Music and Lyrics by Billy Austin and Jordan)
  • "Five Guys Named Moe" (Reprise)

Awards and nominations

  • Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment (winner)
  • Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director of a Musical (Charles Augins, nominee)
  • Laurence Olivier Award for Best Choreography (Augins, winner)
  • Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Paul J. Medford, nominee)
  • Tony Award
    Tony Award
    The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

    for Best Musical (nominee)
  • Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (nominee)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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