THEATRE UNDER THE STARS
WWW.TUTS.COM
Theatre Under the Stars Presents "SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE" Starring GLADYS KNIGHT, August 7 - 19, 2001 at The Wortham Center (500 Texas Avenue)
GLADYS KNIGHT
STARS
IN
SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE
August 7 - 19, 2001
at The Wortham Center
Houston, Texas.....Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer GLADYS KNIGHT stars in the seven time Tony Award - nominated and
Grammy Award - winning musical SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE - The Songs of Leiber and Stoller. GLADYS KNIGHT played
to sold - out audiences on Broadway in the spring and summer of 1999; she now returns to the stage for a special limited
engagement, performing in the song and dance celebration that features every great hit of the ‘50s and ‘60s!
The songs “Hound Dog,” “Love Potion #9,” “Stand By Me,” "Yakety Yak,” “There Goes My Baby,” “On Broadway” and
“Jailhouse Rock” provided the soundtrack to the lives of a generation of Americans. What’s more, they are all the work of a
single song - writing team, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. And they will soon be heard, seen and loved again with the
exquisitely gifted GLADYS KNIGHT at the Wortham Center, August 7 - 19, 2001, as a part of THEATRE UNDER THE
STARS’ 2001 Season.
GLADYS KNIGHT
GLADYS KNIGHT has been blessed with an illustrious career that has spanned five decades and will no doubt stand the test
of time and continue well into the millennium. Her life as a singer began in 1948 at the age of four in the Mount Moriah
Missionary Church in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Her talents paid off in 1952 after winning $5,000 on the Ted Mack
Amateur Hour. Her band, GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS, saw their first number one hit, “Every Beat of My Heart,”
in 1961.
That was only the beginning. “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” “If I Were Your Woman,” “Neither One of Us (Wants To
Be The First to Say Goodbye),” “Midnight Train to Georgia” and many other chart toppers met with both critical and public
acclaim. For their efforts Gladys Knight and the Pips received four Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, induction
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a Rhythm & Blues Foundation Lifetime Achivement Award. Gladys Knight and the
Pips are also credited with the soundtrack recording for the major motion picture Claudine and with their own summer variety
program, The Gladys Knight & the Pips Show.
While her accomplishments with the Pips were astounding, the true measure of Gladys versatility as a performer can be seen
in her distinguished solo career. She recorded three albums (Miss Gladys Knight, Just For You, and Many Different Roads)
and starred in the motion picture Pipe Dreams, the CBS sitcom Charlie & Co., a Clio Award - winning Kentucky Fried
Chicken commercial and the Ace Award - winning Sisters In the Name of Love. She published her memoirs in the best seller
Between Each Line of Pain and Glory. Teaming up with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John, Gladys Knight
recorded the Grammy winner “That’s What Friends are For.” She has also been honored by Essence magazine and even has
a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
GLADYS KNIGHT and Cast Shake Up the Wortham in the seven - time Tony Award
- nominated and Grammy Award - winning musical SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, featuring the popular music of Leiber and Stoller. SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, presented by Theatre Under The Stars, play August 7 - 19, 2001 at the Wortham Center (500 Texas Avenue).
Winner of the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Musical and nominated for seven 1995 Tony Awards including Best Musical,
Best Director and Best Choreography, SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE - The Songs of Leiber and Stoller celebrates the world of
first kisses and last dances, hot summer nights, and cool midnight struts, blue - light dinners and red - hot Rock & Roll.
Directed by four time Tony Award - winner Jerry Zaks, the show captures and celebrates the contagious spirit of the music of
Lieber and Stoller. Musical Staging by Joey McKneely, Scenery Design by Tony Award - winner Heidi Ettinger, Costume
Design by Tony Award - winner William Ivey Long and Lighting Design by Paul Gallo.
Single tickets for SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE ($19 - $76) are available on-line at WWW.TUTS.COM using TUTS E-Ticket
System; by phone at 1-800-678-5440; in person at either TUTS box office, 2600 Southwest Freeway (Weekdays 10am -
5:30pm, Saturdays 11am - 4pm), or at the Wortham Box Office (510 Preston, 10am to curtain on day of the performance).
Performances are 8pm, Tuesday - Friday; 2pm and 8pm, Saturday; and 2pm and 7:30pm, Sunday.
Sponsors of SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE include BP, BMC Software, Duke Energy, Mr & Mrs. Edward Hickam, Chevron,
Locke Liddell & Sapp, Marsh USA Inc. and Kandy & Rao Ratnala. Air transportation is provided by Continental Airlines,
the official airline of Theatre Under The Stars. Media sponsors are KPRC - TV / Channel 2 and the Houston Chronicle.
THEATRE UNDER THE STARS is Houston’s acclaimed musical theatre production company founded in 1968 by Frank
M. Young. TUTS was the first theatrical organization in Houston to perform free to the public at Miller Outdoor Theatre in
Hermann Park, and has since performed there each summer, giving Houston forty - one lavish musicals such as South Pacific,
Fiddler on the Roof, and The Who’s Tommy. Since its founding, TUTS has produced more than 200 major musicals including
many local, national and world premieres and is currently represented on Broadway with Beauty and the Beast. As a way to
continue the tradition of musical theatre, TUTS Humphreys School of Musical Theatre provides instruction and stage
experience for more than 600 students annually.
SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE
DATES: AUGUST 7 - 19, 2001
VENUE: Wortham Center (500 Texas Avenue)
SHOW TIMES: Tuesday - Friday, 8pm
Saturday, 2pm and 8pm
Sunday, 2pm and 7:30pm
PRESS NIGHT: August 9, 2001
PURCHASE TICKETS:
Tickets can be purchased by calling 800-678-5440. Tickets are also available at TUTS Tix, 2600
Southwest Freeway (no service charge), at the Wortham Box Office or at any Ticketmaster outlet.
Tickets can also be bought and printed on - line using TUTS’ E-Ticket System at
WWW.TUTS.COM
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Famer GLADYS KNIGHT stars in the seven time Tony Award - nominated
and Grammy Award - winning musical SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE. With songs like “Hound Dog” and
“Yakety Yak,” Smokey Joe’s Cafe is a celebration of more than 40 Leiber and Stoller songs made
popular by artists such as Elvis, The Coasters, The Drifters, Ben E. King and Peggy Lee. Having the
same passion for Boogie Woogie and the Blues, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller began their songwriting
partnership 45 years ago. Leiber and Stoller’s contributions as songwriters and record producer have
been so monumental that it is impossible to envision what American popular music would be like
today without them.
CAPTION / AUDIO:
Audio Described performance is Sunday, August 19 at 2pm. Open Captioned performance is
Sunday, August 19 at 7:30pm.
CORPORATE SPONSORS:
BP, BMC Software, Duke Energy, Mr & Mrs. Edward Hickam, Chevron, Locke Liddell & Sapp,
Marsh USA Inc. and Kandy & Rao Ratnala.
MEDIA SPONSORS: KPRC - TV, Houston Chronicle.