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THE WILDEST !!! Louis and Keely return...












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THE WILDEST - Hip, Cool and Swinging
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The Musical Sounds of Louis Prima and Keely Smith

THE WILDEST is available for Theatrical Licensing Worldwide. Click here to visit the Samuel French Website.

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LOS ANGELES TIMES:

A tribute that does justice, daddy-o

By Philip Brandes
 

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Las Vegas nightclub scene belonged to bandleader Louis Prima and his lead singer, Keely Smith. The swinging jump band sound they pioneered during their reign at the Sahara and Desert Inn casinos is overdue for resurgence, and “The Wildest!” – a new high-octane musical tribute – just might be the ticket.

Conceived by Prima and Smith’s daughters, Luanne and Toni Elizabeth Prima, with director Randy Johnson (who produced “Always Patsy Cline”)  the show makes a promising debut under the auspices of the Central Coast’s PCPA Theaterfest.

The real-life story of how brash, flamboyant Prima revived a fading career through his professional and personal partnership with the cool, sophisticated (and 20 years younger) Smith would make a show unto itself, but biography is not the intent here. Instead, the focus is purely on their music, re-created amid period lounge settings by a dozen energetic young performers and a live six-piece band. And it smokes, daddy-o.

From the opening medley of “Sing, Sing, Sing” and “When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You),” the show pulses with the signature sound Prima forged from the disparate styles that figured in his musical evolution – the Dixieland jazz of his New Orleans roots, the Italiano-themed big band sound that brought him stardom in the 1940s and the sensual hard-driving rhythms he presciently tapped for his Vegas act before they became codified as rock ‘n’ roll.

The arrangements by Prima’s young protege, Sam Butera, prove enduringly hip, and not in a nostalgic retro way. In concise, punchy tunes like “The Lip,” sharp dynamics make the live horns effective lead instruments. For fans of latter-day popularizers such as the Brian Setzer Orchestra, a taste of the original Prima sound will be an eye and ear opener. The Wildest is an amazing experience - not to be missed!

 Director Randy Johnson's original signature styling is on the mark, once again. The Wildest! is sure to be headed for bigger stages and hopefully Broadway in the near future....

 

 

The 2010 Production!
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The Wildest!!! Is the Greatest

 
By Rob Stevens
There have been musicals in the past with exclamation points in their titles--Fiorello!, Hello, Dolly!--but The Wildest!!!, which opened at the Marian Theatre in Santa Maria on July 24 may be the first with three in its title. And it deserves all of them! This World Premiere Musical was the brainchild of Toni Elizabeth Prima and Luanne Prima, daughters of the famous performing duo of Louis Prima and Keely Smith. Along with director Randy Johnson, they have created one of the best musical revues ever!

In less than two hours, this scintillating, exciting, energizing revue delivers three dozen songs that Prima and Smith recorded during their long and successful careers. What puts this musical revue head and shoulders above the similar Ain’t Misbehavin’, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and even Mama, Mia is that the music doesn’t eventually all sound the same because the show consists of songs written by one set of composers. Prima and Smith recorded standards by Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Sammy Cahn, Duke Ellington, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen and more, as well as uptempo, jazz and scat numbers. The music here ranges from Porter’s "I’ve Got You Under My Skin" and Sammy Cahn/Jules Styne’s "It’ Magic" to Bob Merrill’s "Mambo Italiano" and Prima’s own "Sing, Sing, Sing."

This PCPA Theaterfest production is ready for its Broadway debut, Mr. Merrick, Mr. Prince. The creators wisely chose not to try to form the disparate songs into a "story." Instead the songs each have a wildly inventive life of their own thanks to Johnson’s unflagging sense of pacing and inspiration.































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FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS - CLICK HERE

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For serious inquiries conctact:

Management:

Steven Rosen - Office 310 471 1272  - Cell Phone - 310 447 4704

 

email:  steven@rosenmusiccorp.com        

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