Geffen Playhouse - Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theater (Los Angeles, CA)
A winner of virtually every major L.A. theater award, the local musical phenomenon Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara continues at the Geffen's Skirball-Kenis Theater, with Oscar-winner Taylor Hackford directing. Inspired by the true story of swinging Vegas lounge act Louis Prima and Keely Smith, the show includes classic hits like "Embraceable You" and "Just a Gigolo."
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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AMAZING one of the best shows I have seen in years. The music was great and the leads amazing. total energy and I swore I was watching keely smith and Louis Prima
The show should be sold out every night and should go on broadway. Better than the Jersey Boys
SPECTACULAR and I would go see it again
Vegas Man Vegas
In a word the above summarizes all the good and bad features of the show. If those words sound like your idea of a great play you will be pleased. If not, then you may react as I did.
I tend to offer lengthy comments only when my reaction is fundamentally different than the crowd's and I suspect people may be misled. This show is almost universally praised on this site and similarly in the press. That is very puzzling to this reviewer. It has its good features of course. It is a really nice recreation of a 50s/60s Vegas style act. There are some nice songs though they are almost all fragments. The back up band is tight. The leads have good voices. It is fairly entertaining.
It is also cliche riddled. The paper thin plot of a show biz couple falling apart is so familiar you should be able to jot it down before you go. You have seen this movie. You have also seen this act and heard these songs. There is nothing about the human spirit you will learn in this 90 minutes. You may even feel manipulated by all the requests for applause. Is it a play or a lounge act?
The writing does not make up for the obvious plot. A bit of humor but not too much. No real wit. No soliloquies. You get song after song belted out in give 'em a show fashion. Hip, cool, slick.
And when it comes to the obvious climax, and Keely sings the song you knew she would for 80 minutes, you might notice that it does not affect you much just as nothing else has. Even this song is Vegas - cold , empty and show biz.
I can't be the only one who thought sleaze ball and did not buy the innocence of love in Louie for the 16 year old he put on stage and took on the road. It did not pass the smell test given his track record.
The rat pack would understand this show. The amoral world of the night, of Dino, Samy and Frank. Frank is even in this show and to show how odd the hype has been, I do not believe any commentator has mentioned that while using this iconic figure, doing his iconic seduction thing, there is absolutely no vocal or manner resemblance between Cagle and old blue eyes...nada. That matters simply because there could have been and otherwise why throw the star into the mix? He was not I read in the original and he does not add anything good to this version.
I found the show entertaining in a performance sort of way. It was not as a play. As a musical it does not compare to several including Divorce and several recent plays that had music. And it was one of the most costly.
It is nothing as a play but as an entertainment...it's Vegas Baby.
Louis and Keely at the Sahara was ABSOLUTELY delightful. The acting was very entertaining, vocals were good with lots of familiar songs.
The show kept moving and my husband, who almost always falls asleep somewhere during a performance, actually was wide-eyed and awake for the whole show. That says more than I could.
I'd seen Louis and Keely in Las Vegas the year the Twist was launched. The lounge show we attended started at midnight and went until past four a.m. in the tradition of old Vegas.
The headliners dropped in after their shows and everyone jammed on stage. A truly unforgettable experience. That night, among many other stars, Buddy Greco and Jerry Vale performed until their voices gave out. Everyone was doing the new dance sensation--The Twist--on stage.
This wonderful show captured that old Vegas spirit and I would see it again and highly recomment it.
MORGAN S.
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The Geffen Playhouse is newly renovated, closing for over a year, and re-opening in November of 2005. The renovations are stunning, and provide for improved acoustics and sight lines. In addition to the Main Stage there is now the more intimate Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theater, which will focus on newer works for the Los Angeles community.
In just a few years, the Geffen Playhouse has changed th
Website: http://www.geffenplayhouse.com/index.php/164
Directed by Taylor Hackford
Written & Performed by Vanessa Claire Smith & Jake Broder with Nick Cagle & Erin Matthews
Inspired by the birth of Las Vegas and the lounge acts that made the Strip a legendary breeding ground for entertainers, Louis & Keely is a vintage love story set to the beat of jazz. Based on true events, Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara examines the hard-won career of 20th Century music icon Louis Prima and how he turned 16 year old Keely Smith into a star.
Nominated for 14 Los Angeles theater awards, Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara has become one of LA's most popular original musicals with both critics and audiences alike.
The show has added a new director, Academy Award winner Taylor Hackford, a new book, and several additional characters (including Frank Sinatra in a major supporting role) since its Hollywood run. With a live jazz band on stage every night, popular standards such as "That Old Black Magic," "Hey Boy, Hey Girl," "Just a Gigolo", "I Wish You Love" and "Embraceable You" will keep your toes tapping all night long.
Geffen Playhouse
at Geffen Playhouse - Main Stage (Los Angeles, CA)
on November 22, 23rd, and 2 more dates