Author: elijahrock

“Downstairs in the bar is the charismatic “Man in the Saloon” (Elijah Rock). He epitomizes that handsome, low-down, cheatin’, heart-breakin’ fancy man. He is too fly to stay with just one woman so he shares his charms with all the ladies.”

“Blues in the Night” is a winner! While news travels fast when a red-hot musical comes to town, keep in mind this show will only be at North Coast Repertory in Solana Beach until Feb. 12.

It’s another breezeless night in the south in the summer of 1930. As the “Hotel” sign flashes in yellow neon below her window, a sultry chanteuse, known only as a “Woman of the World” (Karole Foreman), gazes out her window sipping warm wine lamenting her bad luck. Meanwhile on the floor below a velvety voiced “The Lady from the Road” (Anise Ritchie) waits for her agent to call her with another booking.

Downstairs in the bar is the charismatic “Man in the Saloon” (Elijah Rock). He epitomizes that handsome, low-down, cheatin’, heart-breakin’ fancy man. He is too fly to stay with just one woman so he shares his charms with all the ladies.

Across the hall, “The Girl with a Date” (Ciarra Stroud) idlily waits. Stroud is perfectly cast as the naïve ingénue. Sweet and likable.

This small but mighty cast was put together by director Yvette Freeman Harley, who stuffed the stage with talent.

Sitting above and behind the singers is conductor/pianist Kevin Toney counting out “3,4,5” as the red-hot musicians hit their licks; Roy Jenkins is on bass, Danny King drums, with Malcom Jones on reeds, and Thomas Alforque finessing the trumpet.

“Blues in the Night” was conceived by and originally directed by Sheldon Epps. Collège Chapman Roberts did the vocal arrangements and acted as musical supervisor. This dynamic duo has earned multiple Tony Award nominations as well as multiple successes on and off Broadway, London’s East End, and between them they’ve pretty much covered the world in song.

For this local production, kudos go to musical director Lanny Hartley, choreographer Roxane Carrasco, and set designer Marty Burnett.

“Blues in the Night” sizzles with snappy tunes and torch songs. It’s what’s best about the South without the chitlins. There is not a bad seat in the house, so get your tickets at 858-481-1055 or https://northcoastrep.org/. The theatre is at 987 Lomas Santa Fe Dr. Suite D, Solana Beach. Lots of free parking, too. Rated 9 out of 10.

Read Full

“Adding a bit of swagger and humor is Elijah Rock, symbolizing all that’s wrong with those darned men who keep giving women more blues to sing. And of course, he finds plenty to sing about when it comes to women … and does so boldly.”

The blues is a style of music, created in the early 1900s in the deep South.  Not surprisingly, The origins of the blues are poorly documented. According to Britannica, blues developed in the southern United States after the American Civil War (1861–65). It was influenced by work songs and field hollers, minstrel show music, ragtime, church music, as well as the folk and popular music of the white population. Numerous sources tell us that the term “the blues” probably originated with the 17th-century English expression “the blue devils,” for the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. The bottom lines is that it’s about channeling what’s wrong in a way that gives it an out — in a sharable, connecting way.

Creator Sheldon Epps’ Blues in the Night is the lamentations of four black people living in a poor residence hotel in 1938, and Marty Burnett’s set design at North Coast Rep suits that to a T. The reality is that this program isn’t really a musical in the conventional sense.  It’s far more of a musical revue tribute to these classic songs. There’s no plot to speak of, though the foursome certainly do a lot to act out each song all its worth; and many of the songs themselves tell a bit of a story. There’s little connection between one song and the next, other than each is a classic piece of blues history.

Read Full

Elijah Rock, Man in the Saloon, returns to North Coast Rep and is the “Ladies Man” for the production. Elijah is smooth, has a great voice, blends well with the three ladies on stage and he has wonderful facial expressions. He is featured in songs such as “I’m Just a Lucky So-And-So”, “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues”, “Dirty No-Gooder’s Blues” (sung with Anise), and “Baby Doll”.

TR Robertson – The latest play/musical in North Coast Rep’s 41st season is a nostalgic trip to 1930’s Chicago through a 26-song journey of some of the most iconic Blues’ songs ever performed. A talented cast of three women and one man along with an amazing five-piece Blues band on stage takes the audience through a two-hour wide range of Blues musical styles. A cramped, but intimate stage incorporates three-bedroom sets, a raised section for the band and an open area center stage that perfectly fits this production. The range of songs chosen for the musical uses’ songs from some of the greats of the Blues era. Songs from singers like Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Jimmie Cox, Ann Ronell, George W. Thomas, and many more fill the stage performed with wonderful interpretations by the cast who use solo numbers, duets, trios and quartets showing their range of talent on stage.

So, what is The Blues? The Blues is an old music form dating back to the 1860’s musically. Wikipedia says The Blues uses “spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants and rhymed ballads from the African American culture” in creating a style like no other music form. Traditional blues also uses single lines repeated four times in the song. The Blues reference goes back much further than the 1860’s. In Britain, to have the blues referred to “visual hallucinations from alcohol withdrawal”. In the early 1800’s Blue Laws were created allowing no alcohol to be sold or served on Sundays. In 1798 George Coleman wrote a one act farce called Blue Devils, a term used in describing melancholy and sadness. John Audubon wrote to his wife in 1827 saying how much he missed her and that he had the blues. In 1862, Charlotte Forten, an African American anti-slavery activist and poet, wrote in her diary how lonely she was and that she had the blues. The Blues is so much more than just a song. As you listen to the songs in Blues in the Night you can hear all these references – sadness, lost love, drinking, lost hope, and at times funny references to all of these and more, putting the feeling of the blues to music.

Read Full

Elijah Rock as the Man in the Saloon but also -that guy-, right? is sort of the wild card amongst all the estrogen and in addition to a great voice he does a mean tap solo that I wish was screened for everybody to see, just like they do in concerts so you do not miss the details.

North Coast Rep Opens Theatre Year with Blues in the Night. An “Oldie but a Goodie” that will Guarantee not only a Wonderful but also a Soul-Searching Night Out 

To welcome 2023, NCR Theatre in Solana Beach brought back the classic Blues in the Night conceived and originally directed by Sheldon Epps. A musical that debuted Off-Broadway in 1980 and two years later on Broadway. The original vocal arrangements and musical direction is by Chapman Roberts and Sy Johnson is responsible for orchestrations and additional vocal arrangements. 

The packed 26-song production spread out in two acts takes place during the late 30s in a rundown Chicago hotel where three women (played by Karole Forman, Anise Ritchie, and Ciarra Stroud) let the audience in on their failed love relationship -amongst other things- with the same man (Elijah Rock).

Even though the piece moves smoothly without dialogue and the songs tell the story, it is a complex production with several moving parts with a five-piece jazz band as backdrop composed by Kevin Tomey in piano and leading the group, Roy Jenkins in bass, Danny King in drums, Malcolm Jones in reeds, and Thomas Alforque with the trumpet. The band immediately introduces the mood while audiences walk in the theatre and see them onstage lighting up the place along with Marty Burnett’s set design with three different stations or rooms where each woman will share her triumphs and sorrows. The cool aspect I enjoyed was that the rooms are decorated with the personality of each woman which is confirmed as they sing their songs so, you start following both listening to the lyrics, and peacing the description with the design as well as with the props, designed by Chris Williams. Lighting is always key in production but here, more so because each song ends with a bang! and Matthew Novotny’s lighting design guides the song to the end when it pops, making audiences want more and know what is coming next. The women’s trio is a display of impressive, strong vocals with a tessitura mix that is just right. Karole Forman and Anise Ritchie each bring the seasoned flare with poise and style. Ciarra Stroud in her NCR debut is striking and delivers fierce interpretation, all three rocking Roxane Carrasco’s choreography that involves all types of “eights” from paced and marked to fast and extreme. Elijah Rock as the Man in the Saloon but also -that guy-, right? is sort of the wild card amongst all the estrogen and in addition to a great voice he does a mean tap solo that I wish was screened for everybody to see, just like they do in concerts so you do not miss the details. Regan A. McKay’s costume design is detailed, nostalgic and full of sass. I particularly loved a white tool dress with black and red stripes that Anise Ritchie changed to onstage and, in a different scene, a big white hat made from the same material, absolutely stunning. 

Read Full

And, finally, there’s The Man in the Saloon (Elijah Rock) who is a sharp dresser, a good dancer and knows how to sweet talk the ladies. Yes, he’s a rascal, but after hearing him sing “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues,” there are many who would let this man buy them a drink.

The Blues tells it like it is – love, loneliness, sex, betrayal but also humor and resilience.

In “Blues in the Night,” three women and a man repeatedly cross paths in a rundown Chicago hotel in 1938 with their interwoven stories told entirely through the songs of Bessie Smith, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Alberta Hunter, among others. This musical revue of early jazz and blues standards tugs at the heart and comforts the soul.

Taking us on this musical journal of solos and soaring harmonies are:

A Woman of the World (Karole Foreman) who conveys the high life she once enjoyed through a buoyant “Stompin’ at the Savoy.” Alas, madame’s attempts to keep up appearances are betrayed by gowns no longer in style and sparkling jewelry that is paste (“Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”).

The Lady from the Road (Anise Ritchie) was once a headliner on the Chitlin’ Circuit. Now all that remains are memories evoked from the brittle pages of photo albums and a jumble of feather boas and costumes in a battered travel trunk. Ritchie delights with “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues” and teases with the naughty “Take Me for a Buggy Ride” and “Kitchen Man.”

The Girl With a Date (Clarra Stroud) is a starry eyed young thing who we painfully watch surrender to bitterness as men disappoint her. On a cold night, standing alone under a glaring neon hotel sign, Stroud’s crystalline voice delivers fully on the haunting melancholy “Willow Weep for Me.” It’s a defining moment in the show.

And, finally, there’s The Man in the Saloon (Elijah Rock) who is a sharp dresser, a good dancer and knows how to sweet talk the ladies. Yes, he’s a rascal, but after hearing him sing “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues,” there are many who would let this man buy them a drink.

Directed by Yvette Freeman Harley, the singers are accompanied on the North Coast Rep stage by a red-hot five-piece band under the musical direction of accomplished musician-conductor-composer Lanny Hartley. Choreography by Roxane Carrasco.

There are a lot of elements in the set design by Marty Burnett: A stage on top of the main stage to accommodate an upright piano, drum kit and myriad wind instruments; bar set up; hotel entrance; three suggested apartments with furnishings for the ladies and center stage a diamond-patterned floor for robust tap and swing dancing. The additional energy of the streets sounds of traffic, horns and pedestrian bustle are courtesy of sound designer Matt Fitzgerald.

All these elements assembled in place are truly a marvel to behold – when the stage is devoid of occupants. On opening night, however, the set threatened to overtake the cast when an amplifier issued a feedback echo during the first number, a singer stubbed a toe on one of the stair risers (thankfully they maintained their balance) and a couple of costume challenges occurred in the tight quarters. Through it all, the singers and musicians never missed a beat.

by Lynne Friedmann

Read Full

Elijah Rock, a fine singing actor, plays The Man in the Saloon (aka the bad man causing these women all that misery).

With a name like “Blues in the Night,” Sheldon Epps’ 1980 revue conjures up images of gin-soaked songs of misery poured in out in 4/4 time to a muted trombone.

And there is a fair amount of that in North Coast Repertory Theatre’s new production of the 1980 show, which opened Saturday. But there’s also unexpected humor, joy, tap and swing dancing and charismatic performances from the four-member cast, who are accompanied by an onstage five-piece blues band. Directed by Yvette Freeman Harley with music direction by her husband, accomplished musician Lanny Hartley, the show is a lively and entertaining two-hour ride through the history of the blues.

The four performers alternate singing 25 songs written from the 1920s through the mid-1950s. There’s no dialogue, but the performers each play a different style of blues performer and they sing several numbers together in trios and quartets. All four perform the show’s title song, better known as “My Mama Done Told Me.”

Anise Ritchie is the Lady from the Road, modeled after the famous black women blues singers of the 1920s and ‘30s, including songwriters Bessie Smith and Ida Cox and singer Alberta Hunter, who toured the vaudeville and chitlin’ circuits and specialized in bawdy and done-her-wrong songs. Ritchie has a powerful voice, a great sense of humor and stage presence. She shines most in the numbers “Dirty No-Gooder’s Blues” and “Wasted Life Blues.”

Read Full

Completing the cast as the Man in the Saloon is Elijah Rock, who starts as a preening ladies man. But thanks to Freeman Hartley’s direction, Rock avoids becoming the cad who inspired so many blues songs. He’s charming and fleet on his feet and gives a fresh twist to songs written and sung by women, like Cox’s “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues” and Smith’s “Baby Doll.”

With a name like “Blues in the Night,” Sheldon Epps’ 1980 revue conjures up images of gin-soaked songs of misery poured in out in 4/4 time to a muted trombone.

And there is a fair amount of that in North Coast Repertory Theatre’s new production of the 1980 show, which opened Saturday. But there’s also unexpected humor, joy, tap and swing dancing and charismatic performances from the four-member cast, who are accompanied by an onstage five-piece blues band. Directed by Yvette Freeman Harley with music direction by her husband, accomplished musician Lanny Hartley, the show is a lively and entertaining two-hour ride through the history of the blues.

The four performers alternate singing 25 songs written from the 1920s through the mid-1950s. There’s no dialogue, but the performers each play a different style of blues performer and they sing several numbers together in trios and quartets. All four perform the show’s title song, better known as “My Mama Done Told Me.”

Anise Ritchie is the Lady from the Road, modeled after the famous black women blues singers of the 1920s and ‘30s, including songwriters Bessie Smith and Ida Cox and singer Alberta Hunter, who toured the vaudeville and chitlin’ circuits and specialized in bawdy and done-her-wrong songs. Ritchie has a powerful voice, a great sense of humor and stage presence. She shines most in the numbers “Dirty No-Gooder’s Blues” and “Wasted Life Blues.”

Read Full

Three different sides as they focus on the Man in the Saloon played by Elijah Rock. Rock could have stepped from the pages of a 30’s magazine. He totally took us back.

“Blues is easy to play but hard to feel” Jimi Hendrix. Come, feel the music at the North Coast Repertory production of “Blues In The Night.” Conceived by Sheldon Epps in 1980, Blues in the Night delivers ambience for the soul that touches the heart. 

Director Yvette Freeman Hartley comes from a Jazz background. Her father was pianist Charles Freeman. Yvette performed on Broadway in ‘’Ain’t Misbehavin’ before moving into acting. You may remember her as Nurse Halwh Adams on ER for 15 seasons. The Musical Director is Lanny Hartley, and the choreographer is Roxane Carrasco.

Blues In The Night transports us into another era. Set in a run down Chicago hotel in the 30’s, the stage is a nightclub with rooms to the side as the actors remain on stage most of the show. The musical is the journey of three female friends and one snaky male taking us through their love life musically. Torchy love ballads made famous by Bessie Smith, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Gordon Jenkins, Alberta Hunter, and the legendary Ella Fitzgerald delight as 26 beautiful relaxing songs to soothe your soul.

Beyond Fitzgerald’s hit, “Blues in the Night” the songs I enjoyed most were the songs where  the three women blended their magical voices together in a song. Each singing a verse, and coming together for the chorus. ‘A perfect blend of the Blues.

The three females in the show are actresses but any one of them could have been a nightclub headliner back in the day showcasing their own masterful voices. Woman of the world is played by Karole Foreman, the more sophisticated of the group.. Anise Richards played the Lady from the Road who is amazing at weaving her acting with her singing. Then we have Ciarra Stroud who played The Girl with the Date, with the tales from a youthful and more hopeful viewpoint. Three different sides as they focus on the Man in the Saloon played by Elijah Rock. Rock could have stepped from the pages of a 30’s magazine. He totally took us back. Read Full Article Here

The Blues In The Night

North Coast Repertory Theatre

January 14 – February 5, 2023

987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive 

Solana Beach

www.northcoastrep.org

Elijah Rock, a superior singer with a deep baritone voice and a love for the Great American Songbook, is releasing his new four-song EP Swoon. As a jazz-inspired vocalist, he previously had strong success with his first two albums: Gershwin for My Soul and Matters of The Heart.
On Swoon, Elijah Rock’s warm voice and swinging style are matched with some of Nashville’s top musicians, but it is not a country album. Instead, the Nashville players give Rock’s renditions of four beloved standards the feel of Western swing.

Produced and arranged by Steve Dorff, Swoon has the singer accompanied by pianist Jimmy Nichols, bassist Joe Chemay, drummer Steve Brewster, steel guitarist Mike Johnson, and guitarist Andy Reiss. Two songs add Jenne Fleenor on fiddle and the background singing of Kim Keyes and Tania Hancheroff while the great jazz tenor-saxophonist Joel Frahm guests on “The Way You Look Tonight.”

Swoon begins with the Fats Waller hit “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter.” Elijah Rock’s joyful vocal, the tasteful use of Mike Johnson’s steel guitar, and the subtle and soothing utilization of the background singers set the standard for the set.

The singer’s treatment of “The Way You Look Tonight” is reminiscent of Frank Sinatra’s in the way that he sounds comfortably swinging, relaxed, and natural, as if he were thinking aloud during his exuberant vocal.

The philosophical “If I Ruled The World, ” originally from the British musical Pickwick, was introduced to American listeners by Tony Bennett in 1965. Elijah Rock gives the ballad a thoughtful and heartwarming treatment.

Swoon concludes on a particularly happy note with the 1929 hit “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.” Between the vocal choruses there is a tradeoff between steel guitar, guitar and piano. Elijah Rock’s final chorus will have every listener smiling.

Elijah Rock has already had a career full of highpoints and memorable moments while giving one the impression that he is just getting started. Born in Cleveland, he gained early experience as a classically trained soprano as a boy before maturing into a warm baritone singer. Among his accomplishments since then have been developing into a notable tap dancer, hosting his digital entertainment  program The Elijah Rock Variety Show, appearing on Showtime’s TV series Masters Of Sex, writing the men’s handbook The Fine Art Of Romance, winning the NAACP Theater Award for Best Male Equity performer in Breath And Imagination: The Story Of Roland Hayes, and gaining acclaim (along with an Ovation Award Nomination) for portraying Cab Calloway in the musical revue I Only Have Eyes For You.

As a vocalist, Rock is a storyteller dedicated to reviving and uplifting classics from the Great American Songbook while also contributing some of his own timeless originals. Gershwin For My Soul and the consistently romantic Matters of The Heart were important first steps in his solo singing career. His latest accomplishment, Swoon, features him taking four classics and making them his own.

Scott Yanow, jazz historian and author of 12 books including Life Through The Eyes Of A Jazz journalist

PERSONELL 

Arranged and Produced by Steve Dorff

Jimmy Nichols – Piano
Joe Chemay – Bass
Steve Brewster – Drums
Mike Johnson – Steel Guitar
Andy Reiss – Electric/Acoustic Guitar
Kim Keyes – Background Singer
Tania Hancheroff – Background Singer
Jenee Fleenor- Fiddle :

CURB STUDIOS – NASHVILLE, TN
Craig White – First Engineer
Dave Bates – Second Engineer
Elijah Rock and Hall of Fame Songwriter Steve Dorff discuss new recording project in Nashville!

Full Article Here

Elijah Rock had the commanding articulation of Joe Williams, and did a rather credible tap dance in the middle of “I’m Just a Lucky So-And-So.”

What a great refresher of our musical heritage.

Often considered America’s only indigenous art form, jazz was the foundation for blues, R&B, and eventually rock ‘n’ roll. As with much of these art forms, the double entendre and subtle sexual overtones have withstood the test of time, a ready acknowledgment of the fundamental attraction and longevity of the songs.

The well-constructed production is comprised of a quartet of singers and a solid quintet of musicians serving up 26 vintage blues songs, some that you’ll recognize, some you hardly even heard of.

Held together by the most slender of plot lines, the singers deftly assay wonderful tunes by the likes of Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Harold, Arlington, Johnny Mercer, Billy, Strayhorn and Billie Holiday. The songwriters have attained the vaunted position of essentially never falling from favor. The four singers find themselves in a cheap Chicago hotel in 1938. A few songs were actually first released after that date (the title song in a 1941 film of the same name), but no matter. The mood is consistent and effective.

“Blues in the Night” cast: Karole Foreman, Elijah Rock, Ciarra Stroud & Anise Ritchie (photo by Aaron Rumley)

Productions like this, especially when attended by successive generations, will keep these songs alive, despite a dearth of radio airplay.
Between those seen onstage and the rest of the production team, the degrees of separation to a broad swath of jazz icons are tiny. Ciarra Stroud evokes a twinge of Amy Winehouse in “Wasted Life Blues.” Karole Foreman excels in “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” Anise Ritchie was solid throughout. Elijah Rock had the commanding articulation of Joe Williams, and did a rather credible tap dance in the middle of “I’m Just a Lucky So-And-So.” All four harmonized brilliantly. Sheldon Epps conceived and originally directed the production. Perennial kudos to Marty Burnett, now well past 200 set designs.

This is a delightful musical evening, delivered by sterling performers. The show has been extended to February 14.

Tickets available here.

View full article