FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE Begins 12/10 at Broward Stage Door Theatre

Rolling Stone Magazine ranked pioneering musician, songwriter and bandleader Louis Jordan number 59 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Known as 'The King of Jukebox', and 'The Grandfather of Rock 'n Roll', Jordan's music appealed to everyone - regularly topping music charts - mainstream, top ten, and pop - from the 1930s swing era into the 1950's rock and roll revolution In Five Guys Named Moe playwright Clarke Peters has fashioned an exciting, exhilarating, and exuberantly loving tribute to Jordan and his music. The production will run at Broward Stage Door Theatre from December 10th through January 18th.

Nomax, has run out of money and his girlfriend has left him. He needs comfort, support, and advice. Emerging from his 1930s-style radio are Five Guys Named Moe: Big Moe, Four-Eyed Moe, Eat Moe, No Moe, and Little Moe, who harmonize, croon, wail, tap, and joke... and provide Nomax with just what he needs, all in the form of Louis Jordan's hit songs and music.

Five Guys Named Moe is based on a 1943 musical short of the same name by Louis Jordan himself. It had its UK debut in 1990 at Theatre Royal Stratford East, running for over four years in the West End, and then premiering on Broadway in 1992, where it was nominated for two Tony Awards. It was revived in 2010 at the Edinburgh Festival, starring the show's playwright Clarke Peters and returned later in 2010 to the theatre in which it originally premiered. The musical won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.

Director Christopher Patterson will play No Moe in the production. Also starring are Brandon Hanks as Nomax, Daryl Stewart as Little Moe, Philip Bolton as Big Moe, Micah Mims as 4 Eyed Moe, and Don Seward as Eat Moe.

As a bandleader in the 1940's, Louis Jordan (Music and Lyrics) pioneered a wildly popular blend of jazz and blues. The swinging shuffle rhythms played by singer/saxophonist Jordan and his Tympany Five got called "jump blues" or "jumpin' jive," and it served as a forerunner of rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll. At the height of his career he scored 18 number-one hit records and four of his songs are in the Grammy Hall of Fame which honors recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Jordan performed songs that appealed to millions of black and white listeners. Able to "straddle the fence" between these two audiences, Jordan emerged as one of the first successful crossover artists of American popular music.

Clarke Peters (Playwright) is an actor, singer and writer. He earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical for Five Guys Named Moe. As an actor, he has appeared on Broadway in The Iceman Cometh (Theatre World Award) and as Billy Flynn in the revival of Chicago. Clarke's London credits include Guys and Dolls, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Passion and Dispatches at the Royal National Theatre. His West End credits include Blues in the Night, Porgy and Bess, The Witches of Eastwick, and Chicago. In regional theater he has appeared in Driving Miss Daisy, The Wiz, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Carmen Jones and The Amen Corner. Clarke is familiar to television viewers for his roles on The Wire, Treme and The Divide. His film credits include Mona Lisa, Notting Hill, Marley & Me, K-Pax and Freedomland. As a director, his credits include Blues for Mr. Charlie, Fascinating Aida, King and Martin Luther.

Five Guys Named Moe will run from December 10 - January 18 at Broward Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs. The theatre is located at 8036 Sample Road, in Coral Springs.

Tickets for Five Guys Named Moe are $38 - $42; $16 student tickets are also available. Tickets may be purchased at the Broward Stage Door Theatre box office at 954-344-7765 or on line at http://www.stagedoorfl.org.

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