Huey's Last Performance in Chicago the Musical
By Donna Sadler
HLN Today Reporter
12 January 2007, posted at HLN.org 20 January 2007: With another great performance under his belt, Huey appeared in his final show in Chicago, the Musical. Although he was suffering from the effects of a cold, Huey still managed to put on a great performance. He even managed to hold the long note on the final bit of "They Both Reached for the Gun".
Huey was certainly enjoying himself during the play. He adlibbed a few new lines, one telling Bebe Neuwrith he enjoyed working with her. There were a few horsing around moments with some of his fellow cast mates. In one scene where Huey's character Billy Flynn flirts with Mary Sunshine (played perfectly by Rob Rowe), Billy kisses Mary on the nose; Mary grabs Billy and gives him a big body hug with his leg wrapped around him.
Not to be out done Billy "growls" at him! Not even the cast could keep from laughing at that point. The audience just ate it up--tons of applause! I’m sure the amount of applause was attributed to fact that there were a large number of Huey Lewis and the News fans in the audience. From the moment Huey made his entrance on stage, there were some hollers of the concert variety.
The curtain call was something special for Huey. After all cast members were introduced and took their bows, Rob Bartlett, aka Amos Hart/Mr. Cellophane, welcomed a new cast member to the show and bid a farewell to Huey. He said it was a tradition to say goodbye to cast members when it was their time to leave, at least the ones they liked!
Mr. Bartlett read a poem that he had written especially to send off Huey. Mr. Bartlett was kind enough to send it to this reporter to share with everyone here on HLN.org. (Special thanks to you Rob Bartlett! - who by the way sends his best to all you Huey Lewis and the News fans!) Here it is:
Through the Heart of Rock and Roll and the Power of Love,
You showed us it was Hip to Be Square.
But now you want a new job.
One that won't make you sick.
One that won't make you work so hard.
One that won't make you bored too quick.
We've had some fun, and yes we've had our ups and downs.
Been down that rocky road but here we are still around.
Yes it's true, we were happy to be Stuck with You!
With love,
From your Chicago Family
As if that wasn’t enough, Rob and the cast had one last duty to perform as tradition to a leaving cast member. The cast lead the audience in singing "Happy Trails" to Huey! What fun it was to hear the whole theater sing along with the cast. It was a nice warm and fuzzy feeling!
It was also great to hear from some of the cast members afterwards, specifically Rob Bartlett and Shawn Emamjomeh (who plays the whole entire jury – what a hoot he is!) on how much they loved Huey and how they were already going to miss him. Shawn admitted that he’s never seen the band but he'd promised that he was making a point of it now. Can never have to many Huey Lewis and the News fans! Here’s looking forward to some concert dates and maybe a return to Chicago next year?
(Special thanks to Diane Roberts for her help in this!)
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