Skip Robinson stars as a young Elvis Presley in “Million Dollar Quartet.”If you go
› What: “Million Dollar Quartet.”› When: 7:30 p.m. today, March 3.› Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.› Admission: $51.50 and $58.50.› Phone: 1-800-514-3849.› Website: www.ChattanoogaOnStage.com.
The Cast
Jerry Lee Lewis: Jason CohenJohnny Cash: Evan Buckley HarrisElvis Presley: Skip RobinsonCarl Perkins: Christopher Wren
In this Dec. 4, 1956, file photo, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash play and sing at Sun Studios in Memphis.It was an impromptu meeting that put four of the biggest stars in rock ‘n’ roll history in the same room for a jam session that would never be repeated.
On Dec. 4, 1956, Carl Perkins, who’d had some regional successes with songs like “Gone Gone Gone” before writing “Blue Suede Shoes” the year before, was in Sun Studios in Memphis to record a new single. Hired to play piano was Jerry Lee Lewis, another Sun artist Sam Phillips had signed.
At some point during the evening, two other Phillips signees – Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash – dropped by, and the four commenced to playing and singing mostly gospel songs they knew. The moment is relived in the musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” which is being presented tonight at the Tivoli Theatre.
The show features dialogue and songs from the actual evening, as well as live concert-style performances of the songs fans know and love from the stars, songs that weren’t recorded until years later.
“Each just had maybe a hit or two that night,” says director Lauren Sobon, director, choreographer and casting director for the show.
“It wasn’t until a decade later or so that they’d recorded so much of what we know. We wanted to make the show come alive and fill it with songs that the audience wants to hear.”
The result is a Tony Award-winning “90-minute rock ‘n’ roll show,” Sobon says. “People have come back over and over to see it because it’s so much fun.”
Sobon, who has more than 80 shows to her credit, says casting this one was particularly challenging because each actor needs to be able to sing, play, dance, act and look like four of the most famous men in rock history.
“And we didn’t want impersonators,” she says. “We needed actors who could come off as real. These were young men at the time, still figuring it all out. It was not Las Vegas-era Elvis, for example. He was young and starting out. It was a challenge, but one we rose to. The cast is phenomenal.”
Sobon says it took about eight months to find the four actors.
“Going in, I thought finding Jerry Lee would be the hardest, but we got lucky and found him in the first audition. Jerry Lee had such energy. Finding our Johnny was the last because you need that voice. That was the hardest.”
The show also features a good bit of actual dialogue from Sam Phillips. The writers relied on Stephen Miller’s book of the same title for their research, and Sobon says the musical provides a good insight into the four stars and Phillips, the legendary label owner.
“It really shows who Sam was,” she says.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.