Five Guys Named Moe tells the story of Nomax, a night owl struggling with heartbreak and financial troubles. To lift his blues, five guys named Moe - who step out of the radio - perform songs by Louis Jordan using dance, style, and fresh takes on the classics. Directed by Robert O'Hara, the production features choreography throughout and aims to present Louis Jordan's music as a celebration and tribute that is still relevant today through its influence on genres like rock and roll and hip hop.

1. Jan 23 - Feb 15
Allen Theatre
CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE
Five Guys
named Moe

2. CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE: Five Guys Named Moe 2
The InsideGuide is edited by Artistic Associate Rachel Lerner-Ley.
About the Play
Boy Band Meets Big Band
Nomax is a night owl with the blues. His woman has
left him, he’s broke and it’s almost five o’clock in the
morning. All he needs is the right music—and the
right guys—to get him through. Enter five guys named
Moe, stepping out through the radio to school Nomax
using the hit songs from the “King of the Jukebox”
Louis Jordan.
With plenty of hot dance moves, lots of style and fresh
spins on classic Jordan tunes, these Five Moes are
sure to heat things up and drive away the Cleveland
winter blues.
book by Clarke Peters
music and lyrics by Louis Jordan
directed by robert O’Hara
Kevin McAllister
(Nomax)
Sheldon Henry
(Big Moe)
Paris Nix
(Eat Moe)
Travis Porchia
(Four-Eyed Moe)
Jobari Parker-Namdar
(No Moe)
Clinton Roane
(Little Moe)
THE CAST

3. CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE: Five Guys Named Moe 3
He Was a-Rockin’
by Maddie Gaw, Artistic Apprentice
“King of the Juke Box,” “Grandfather of Rock n
Roll” or just plain Louis Jordan—no matter which
name you call him, this hit maker and entertainer is
synonymous with rollicking rhythms and roof-raising
good times.
Louis Jordan was a saxophonist who played in big
swing orchestras before forming his own group, the
Tympany Five. As a bandleader, his vocal, songwriting
and performing talents blossomed, and Jordan went on
to craft wild and hot tunes that took listeners—and
jukeboxes—in the 1930s and 40s by storm.
“Jazz men play mostly for themselves,”
Jordan remarked, “I play for the
people.” And he was certainly
onto something. Jordan scored
eighteen Number One singles
on the R&B charts and was
as big a hit live. Louis and
his Tympany Five were
groundbreaking in an era
of big bands. Their small
band size of six produced
a new quality of sound,
and Jordan’s larger-
than-life personality
(and performance
tricks!) captivated
audiences.
Louis Jordan, with his signature wide-eyed stare and his saxophone.

4. CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE: Five Guys Named Moe 4
“I didn’t stick to what you’d call jazz,” Jordan explained,
“I have always stuck to entertainment.” Jordan
cultivated his persona and wit from vaudeville comic
Bert Williams and other black performers from his
youth. Jordan became known for his comedy. For
instance, he once dedicated his song, “Is You Is Or Is You
Ain’t My Baby” to movie star Errol Flynn during Flynn’s
notorious paternity suit.
Jordan’s performance style provided the blueprint for
rock n’ roll—visually and musically—and all that’s come
after. According to a Tympany Five member, Jordan
was trying to “present his audience with a Technicolor
picture of a live band,” which included wearing the “wild
colors” that eventually became the hallmark of some of
popular music’s biggest stars. Musically, his focus on the
small-combo and incorporation of electric guitar was
also a vital precursor to rock and roll’s sound.
Jordan’s work immediately impacted the next generation
of early rockers like Chuck Berry and Ray Charles who
often covered his material. “Louis Jordan has had a great
and lasting influence upon my appreciation of music,”
Charles reflected, “and, perhaps, even my performance.”
Meanwhile, Berry reworked the guitar parts of Jordan’s
“Ain’t That Just Like A Woman” into his famous “Johnny
B. Goode” riff.
Jordan’s influence extended beyond his lifetime and can
still be heard in popular music today. As B.B. King once
explained, “What [Louis] was doing became the origins
of rap. He was rhyming things that nobody else was able
to do.” Jordan’s song “Beware”—featuring rhymes at a
mile a minute—has been called the earliest rap song.
Perhaps Louis Jordan’s most lasting legacy transcends
genre or form: the celebration of good music and good
times. In the spirit of today’s YOLO (You Only Live Once)
culture, Jordan once famously sang, “I don’t care if you’re
young or old. Get together, let the good times roll.”
A still of Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five performing “Caledonia.” Jordan’s “soundies” were amongst the predecessors for music videos made by
artists today.

5. CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE: Five Guys Named Moe 5
An accomplished director and playwright, Robert
O’Hara received the 2010 NAACP Best Director Award
for his direction of Eclipsed, the 2010 Helen Hayes
Award for Outstanding New Play for Antebellum and
an OBIE Award for his direction of the world premiere
of the critically acclaimed In the Continuum. Robert
wrote and directed the world premieres of Insurrection:
Holding History and Bootycandy, directed the world
premieres of Brother/Sister Plays (Part 2) and Wild
with Happy and is currently an adjunct at NYU/
Tisch School of the Arts and the Mellon Playwright in
Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
The Big Event by Linda Lombardi, Arena Stage Literary Manager
Director Robert O’Hara discusses his vision for Five Guys Named Moe.
Tell us about Five Guys Named Moe. What attracts you to this show?
I’m known as the new play guy. But I love musicals, absolutely adore them. What attracts me to Five Guys Named Moe,
besides the music, is the opportunity to reinvent it. Louis Jordan’s music is the root for rock and roll and hip-hop. He
was really a nightclub act in a way. He was popular entertainment. People would come and dance to his music. So when
[I was asked] to put my own take on it, I immediately thought about what context I could put the play in. There was
no reason for me to come here and do another production of Five Guys Named Moe like everybody else has done it. I
wasn’t interested in that.
So I said, “Well, what if they were a tribute group? What if the Moe’s were a modern day boy band but they sang the
songs of Louis Jordan? What if they actually were like Jodeci or Boys II Men or New Edition? What if they had that
modern style but they sang these old grooves. And then I thought what if we reinvented the songs too?” We got the
OK from producer Cameron Mackintosh so we’re reinvigorating the songs. We’re going to add different types of
instruments and put a different spin, so it doesn’t feel like we’re in the 1930s and 40s listening to a band, but that we’re
listening to a tribute to that music. We’re going to make it an event — a Five Moe’s event — and a celebration of Louis
Jordan’s music.
How would you describe the aesthetic of the show?
It’s going to be incredibly stylish. We’re really looking for it to be
almost a nightclub act. I want the cast to feel like rock stars, and
I want to encourage them to be rock stars. This band has been
manufactured. We had our own American Idol contest, basically.
Every number is going to be choreographed. It’s going to be
a huge dance show. Which is why it required us to really
search for the people who have that sort of stamina and
skill set. There’s going to be flips. There’s going to be
tapping, and there’s going to be throwing people around
the stage. I want it to be an event in that way. We’re
mixing in modern dance with dances from the period,
which is so great to see.
Director Robert O’Hara

6. CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE: Five Guys Named Moe 6
When you’re directing, what do you look for in a
writer (and, vice versa, when you’re a playwright,
what do you look for in a director)?
As a director, it has to be something that’s going to
keep me interested for four weeks in rehearsal. Is there
a question that I can ask about the script, or a challenge
that has been laid down by the playwright, to wrestle
with? Because if there’s not something to wrestle with,
then you’re just on autopilot and I’m at a point in my
career where I don’t want to travel to another place and
go on auto pilot. So I look for something that brings a
question. And part of the question of Five Guys Named
Moe is, “is this music relevant now?”
As a playwright, I’m looking for a director who can do
something with the script that I couldn’t do, that can
create on top of the script, just as I want the actors
to take the script and make it their own and create
something new. I look for someone with a strong
dramaturgical sense and a strong visual style. That’s
always exciting to see those people.
You’re stranded on a deserted island with just your
iPod. What’s on it?
Well Michael Jackson, of course. And Whitney Houston.
And some recordings of my Granny talking.
The five Moes of Five Guys Named Moe. Photo by Tony Powell, courtesy of Arena Stage.
Taken alone, each play in CPH’s season is entertaining and vital, but
fascinating connections emerge when you examine them together.
Taken alone, each play in CPH’s season is entertaining and vital, but
fascinating connections emerge when you examine them together.

7. CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE: Five Guys Named Moe 7
All the Boys on the Block
by Emily Goodridge, CPH Teaching Artist and Rachel Lerner-Ley, Artistic Associate
In Five Guys Named Moe, it is a boy band—a group of young male vocalists—that is called
on to save Nomax’s day with catchy music and lyrical lessons on relationships. To create the
band, director Robert O’Hara went on a nationwide search, not unlike the ones many music
producers have conducted to create chart-topping bands. And what he got is five triple threat
performers who will wow you with their slick looks, smooth moves and sensational harmonies!
Boy bands have been capturing hearts worldwide long before our Five Guys gathered for their
first rehearsal. Here’s a look at some of the major moments in boy band history:
1966: The Monkees premiers on TV. A made-for-TV
Beatles-inspired band, The Monkees are considered by
many to be the very first “boy band.” Each band member
has a distinct look and personality, a trope continued by
subsequent boy bands.
1970: The Jackson Five get four Number One singles,
the first band of any genre to do so. This family act of
brothers broke barriers left and right, bringing motown
music to the mainstream. It also produces pop sensation
Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson (second from right) was the youngest of the Jackson Five

8. CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE INSIDEGUIDE: Five Guys Named Moe 8
1977: Puerto Rican boy band Menudo bursts onto the
scene. Menudo remained intact until 2009. The secret?
The band cycled through members. Once a band member
turnes 16 they are replaced. It is with Menudo that pop
star Ricky Martin first starts “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”
1988: New Kids on the Block takes teenage girls by
storm with its first major hit song, “Please Don’t Go Girl.”
The group goes on to sell 80 million records worldwide
and is amongst the best-selling bands in history.
1994: Boyz II Men releases “I’ll Make Love to You,”
a song still popular today. An R&B group made up of
young African-American men, Boyz II Men models their
vocal style on a barbershop quartet. Their collaboration
with Mariah Carey on the song “One Sweet Day” holds a
record with 16 weeks on the top 100 chart.
2000: Boy band fever hits a high when NSYNC
releases its new album “No Strings Attached” and sells
over 1 million copies in a single day.
2008: After a slump in popularity, boy bands come
back on the scene by going back to the genre’s roots. The
Jonas Brothers, a family act of three brothers, skyrocket
to fame through their partnership with the Disney
Channel. The young heartthrobs make cameos on the
network’s TV shows and star in original made-for-TV
films like Camp Rock.
2014: Boy bands are as strong as ever. Hordes of
screaming teens and pre-teens attend concerts by bands
like One Direction and The Wanted and download
singles from these newest kids on the block.
Connect with CPH on Facebook for photos, contests, special partner offers, and links to more interesting insight into
the plays on our stages! On Twitter, too: @ClevePlayHouse. You can use #CPH5Guys to spread the word!
Connect with CPH on Facebook for photos, contests, special partner offers, and links to more interesting insight into
the plays on our stages! On Twitter, too: @ClevePlayHouse. You can use #CPH5Guys to spread the word!

9. Cleveland Play House offers you ways to be a CPH insider all season long! With our
InsideCPH programs, you’ll get up-close-and-personal with the people and processes
that make our work happen — all in a fun and informal setting.
They’re always open to the public, and always FREE of charge.
Behind-the-Scenes:
Five Guys, One Choreographer
Saturday, Jan. 24 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
There are five guys named Moe, but only one guy
who gives them all their moves: Choreographer
Byron Easley. Sit back and observe, or put on your
dancing shoes, as we reveal how choreography
enhances this exhilarating musical and its
sensational songs with every step.
Tech Night
Tuesday, Jan. 20 | 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Hear from the director and designers, then sit
in on a technical rehearsal to see how all of the
production elements come together as opening
night nears!
Pre-show Conversations
Free, fun and interactive! Beginning 45 minutes
before every subscription performance.
TalkBacks
Sunday, Feb. 1
Tuesday, Feb. 3
Sunday, Feb. 8
Join the cast after the show to continue the
conversation our plays start!
RSVP to InsideCPH@clevelandplayhouse.com.
For complete program dates and details, visit
clevelandplayhouse.com.