If you're a fan of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, or Carl Perkins, the Nederlander Theatre is the place to be. That's where the newly opened Broadway production of Million Dollar Quartet is playing.
On December 4, 1956, those four musicians had an impromptu jam session at Sam Phillips‚ Sun Records in Memphis. The recording of the session would get a commercial release around 20 years later, known as The Million Dollar Quartet. It is this jam session that inspired the musical.
Million Dollar Quartet has played regionally as an audience favorite before settling down at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. It had a healthy run that began in 2008. Clearly trying to strike a chord with the crowd that has made Jersey Boys a smash hit, the production has transferred to Broadway. The move retained the Chicago quartet: Levi Kreis as Lewis, Lance Guest as Cash, Eddie Clendening as Presley, and Robert Britton Lyons as Carl Perkins.
How do you explain the stars aligning for such a recording session? You can't really. In the show, it started as a recording session for Perkins, with Lewis accompanying him. The other two just sort of randomly pop in unexpectedly (Oh, hey John!), but by all accounts, that's exactly how it happened.
The musical makes a relatively poor attempt to become more than a glorified re-staging of the recording session. Hunter Foster plays Sam Phillips, and in a few scenes he addresses the audience to briefly explain the origins of Sun and how each of the four future superstars came to be Sun artists. There's also a tad bit of drama about Phillips wanting Cash to sign a contract extension, which is supposed to be the big dramatic tension the shows builds up to. As narrative art, Million Dollar Quartet is pretty lame.
But let's be honest, very few people who go to see this show are concerned with narrative art. As a glorified re-staging‚ it succeeds and is entertaining. And you can thank the performers who make up the quartet for that.
Most of the performers of the quartet are musicians and singers, not actors. But they look and sound enough like their respective musical legends, which makes up for their lack of acting experience. They are able to embody the superstars perfectly, in voice, movement, and, most surprisingly, musical talent.
Each is wildly talented, but one really stands out above the rest: Levi Kreis as piano rock god Jerry Lee Lewis. Kreis has some film acting experience, but is most-known for his recording career. Million Dollar Quartet allows him to show off his sheer raw talent on the piano and electric performing abilities. He's also very funny in the book scenes, portraying Lewis's cockiness and humor.
Not all the music in the show was played at the jam session. Many of the songs were, but other popular tunes from the musicians were added to the show. All the additional songs, however, were ones that had been written before the date the show takes place, to keep some level of authenticity.
Although this is not one of the best new pieces of theater for the year, it is pretty entertaining, especially for fans of '50s rock.
***
The Nederlander Theatre is located at 208 West 41st Street (between 7th and 8th Avenue).
Two hours prior to each show, a lottery will be held for $30 tickets. Entries will be accepted starting two and a half hours prior to the show. 20 tickets will be made available, and each winner may purchase up to two tickets.
Tickets are regularly priced $45 to $125.
Comments
Post new comment