The limited engagement at the restaurant-cabaret Babalu ends June 28 after two extensions. The show began previews April 17 and opened May 2 for what was planned as an eight-week run.
Written by Jamie Rocco and Albert Evans with Heidi Karol Johnson, Patti Wyss and Ed Cionek, and directed and choreographed by Rocco, Streakin'! "both celebrates and pokes fun at the ME generation." The revue features over 40 hit songs including "I Love The Nightlife," "YMCA," "Take Me Home Country Roads," "Stairway To Heaven, " "I Am Woman," and "Joy To The World." The show also includes a real live streaker.
Producers are Steven Yuhasz and Jennifer Hall. No dates for the fall run have been announced.
The cast includes Tari Kelly, Monte Wheeler, La Vonda Elam, Darryl Jovan, Christi Moore-Leslie and Dany Vaccaro, with Trevor Richardson and Catherine Carpenter.
Orchestrations are by Patti Wyss and Ed Cionek with the five-piece "Mellow Bunch" under the musical supervision of Jason Paul DeBord and musical director John Di Pinto. Babalu Restaurant/Theatre/Nightclub is at 323 W. 44th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. For reservations or information, call (212) 279-4200 or visit www.streakin.com.
*
"In 1995 Albert Evans, Heidi Karol Johnson and I got together and started throwing around ideas for a new rock and roll musical revue," Rocco told Playbill On-Line. "Before we knew it we had an outline for a show called Streakin'!"
The trio got busy with other personal and professional projects, and in 2001 a producer friend (Christine Tasheff of Cabaret Oldtown in Wichita) called Rocco and asked if he had any unfinished projects in a drawer. Streakin'! was pulled from the mothballs and three months later Tasheff produced it and gave the collaborators the chance to work on the show for six weeks.
Steven Yuhasz and Jennifer Hall heard about the show, optioned it and then provided a New York workshop in April 2002 at The El Flamingo.
Writer-director Rocco did the musical staging for Madison Square Garden's productions of the Wizard of Oz starring Roseanne and Eartha Kitt. He also directed, choreographed and re-conceived a new stage version of Singin' in the Rain, which has been produced around the globe.
Writer-arranger Evans wrote the music for the Off Broadway hits Pageant and Nite Club Confidential. As composer-in-residence at the Paper Mill Playhouse, he wrote lyrics for Mikado, Inc. and music for Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. He also wrote the lyrics for the New York City Opera's new performing version of The Merry Widow, seen on PBS' Live from Lincoln Center. His most recent musical is the Dickens-meets Nashville fantasy A Country Christmas Carol.
