I had not seen Smokey Joe's Cafe until I got this DVD, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that after seeing it, I really couldn't get the songs out of my head! The singers are fabulous! All of them bring a wonderful energy to the show and you can tell that they truly do love their job and love performing this show! Show stopping numbers are "Trouble," "Don't," and "Don Juan," but there isn't anything too shabby about any of the others! Entertaining from beginning to end! And I will say that while I don't think Matt Bogart does the BEST of jobs on "Jailhouse Rock" he sure doesn't hurt any of the songs that he sings. He is wonderful on "Ruby" and especially great on "Teach Me How To Shimmy" (my personal favorite...next to "Spanish Harlem"!) Basically...buy it or rent it, but see this show!!!

OK this has to be the BEST musical i have seen on TV....or anywhere. i saw it while ova a friends house. i absolutely loved the songs--- Saved nd Love Potion #9 were great. I also loved Poison Ivy nd I'm A Woman---all the songs were great. Delee Lively was a great dancer nd Deb Lyons had a fantastic strong voice.Brenda Braxton was great at Don Juan nd B.J. Crosby belted those notes fantastically. The quartet was always impressive....i was a bit disappointed with Matt Bogart at first but he was great at Jailhouse Rock. My personal favorite songs were----- Trouble,Don Juan Posion Ivy Teach me how to Shimmy-- my favorite is Falling. i love Smokey Joe's

I saw this in NYC right after it opened, a touring production a few years back and more recently, saw it in an intimate dinner theater cafe setting and all productions were great. This is the type of show that grows on you. You never get tired of hearing the songs if the production is good. The HBO production of the last show at the Virginia Theater was well produced and I enjoyed it very much. Deb Lyons was the only non-original cast member and I though she had the best voice. Her rendition of "Don't" with Ken Ard was a show stopper. Brenda Braxton was spot on as the sultry black woman as was DeLee Lively as the blonde chick. Does she ever stop moving? The others were adequate with the exception af Matt Bogart as the token white guy. I guess it was no coincidence that he had the fewest solos. Kind of reminds me of a play on the "Chorus Line" tune, Looks 10, Voice 2.

I saw this show live at a regional theatre in my home state of Massachusetts and fell immediately in love with it. It was a strange and pleasant coincidence that this taped version of the show's final Broadway performance was being broadcast on HBO that night. All in all, I have to say it was better live. Deb Lyons (who was in the regional production) and DeLee Lively shine as the best performers in the whole show. With Lyons' power house voice and Lively's constant movement, one would think this were the first performance. Other good good performers are Adrian Bailey, Brenda Braxton and Frederick B. Owens for their vocal talents (and Braxton in particular for her acting). Ken Ard's voice is good, but he gives off such an annoying air of egotism that got under my skin. Victor Trent Cook is a wonderful actor, but not as good a singer. B.J. Crosby tries too hard to belt her songs and too often ends up screaming incoherently. The worst performer in the whole thing is Matt Bogart. He cannot sing at all, faking his way through every song. The only things he has going for him are his looks. Regardless of all the bad, I taped this special. The show is very well put together. Smokey Joe's Cafe is quite possibly the greatest musical revue of all time.