Forum Theatre’s ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ is a ‘party on the stage’

If you want to see a showcase of the best Black talent in Wichita, Simeon Rawls says, look no further than Forum Theatre’s “Five Guys Named Moe.”

“The wonderful thing about ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ is that it highlights and showcases the skills of African American men,” Rawls says of the musical, which opens next week. “You don’t see many shows, especially in Wichita, that highlight six African-American men singing their faces off, dancing their faces off and showing they are wonderful performers and highlighting that group in the arts.”

“Moe” is a showcase of the music of singer-songwriter Louis Jordan, whose music was trendsetting in the 1940s, says Forum artistic director Kathryn Page Hauptman.

“The music is really contagious — the beat, the rhythm of it,” Hauptman said. “It was a precursor of the rock ‘n’ roll era and filled that space between swing and rock ‘n’ roll.”

Some of the jump boogie style could even be considered some of the earliest signs of rap, she added.

“It’s pretty instrumental in the world of music, and it’s just so much fun,” Hauptman said.

“(Jordan’s) whole idea was to entertain audiences and he was very, very popular in the 1940s and ‘50s, equally for white audiences as well as Black audiences,” she added.

“Five Guys Named Moe” was a late replacement in the theater season for “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and Hauptman said it captures some of the same era and feel.

In the musical, Nomax (played by Robert Barnes), whose girlfriend left him flat broke, is visited by the titular five guys named Moe: Big Moe (Alexander Ogburn), Four-Eyed Moe (Roy Moye III), Eat Moe (Rawls), No Moe (Noah Nehemiah Robinson) and Little Moe (Sheldon Mba).

The cast had a range of familiarity with the music, from never hearing of it or the show (several) to previously playing a role in an earlier Wichita production (Barnes).

“This was brand new to me. It’s high energy,” Rawls said. Choreographer Gigi Gans’ Russell’s “choreo is intense, so we’re doing a lot of high-energy, high-kicking.”

Moye, making a name for himself in Wichita performing his own music, initially turned down the offer to be in the show, but changed his mind.

“There’s a lot of crowd participation, and that’s something I love to do at shows in general,” he said.

Ogburn said a challenge in the show was adapting to the style of music it portrays.

“This one pushes the not-so-musical side of me,” he said. “I had to adapt style to almost rapping in these songs. And I am not a rapper.”

“Moe” was so enticing it drew Robinson from his home in Louisville, Kentucky, to perform in Wichita.

“I couldn’t turn it down,” said Robinson, who was alerted to the show by a mutual friend of Hauptman. “I’ve always wanted to do this show – a cast of all-Black men with this kind of energy is super rare right now. I was excited.”

The energy of the show is infectious, Hauptman said.

“It’s just a really fun show,” she said. “It’s fun, it’s joyful – it’s called a party on the stage and that’s exactly what it is.”

‘FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE’

When: April 28 to May 15; performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Wilke Center, First United Methodist Church, 330 N. Broadway

Tickets: $18 opening night, $25 Fridays-Saturdays and $23 Thursdays and Sundays, at forumtheatre.org or 618-0444