On December 4, 1956, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley got together at the Sun Records Studio in Memphis Tennessee for an impromptu jam session which was overseen by the label's owner Sam Phillips. That is the premise of the lightweight, but lively musical MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET.
It's a slim idea to build a whole show on and Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux [the authors of the book] haven't done much to flesh it out. The book never gets inside these music legends minds and we never learn much about them as people so the show is nothing more than a jukebox musical with alot of signature songs associated with the artists involved.
But the songs are the thing and when Levi Kreis[ as Jerry Lee Lewis] rips into "Great Balls Of Fire" or Eddie Clendening [as Elvis] belts "Hound Dog "out of the park the show rocks the very foundation of the theatre and stampedes the audience.
Lance Guest and Robert Britton Lyons are fine as Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins respectivly,Hunter Foster does what he can with the poorly written role of Sam Phillips and Elizabeth Stanley is excellent as Elvis's date and sings her two songs well.
While Eric Schaeffer's staging is mostly routine, Chuck Mead's musical arrangements are first rate and the principals play them expertly.
While MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is nothing to write home about, it still provides a cheerful evening if you aren't too critical, and the songs are choice 50s Rock n Roll.
At THE NEDERLANDER THEATRE 208 WEST 41st. STREET N.Y,C.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment