Attended by first ever show at Detroit's Fisher Theater on Wednesday night to catch the Broadway musical "MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET" which is currently on a National tour and in town till February 5.
Anyone who knows me is aware of my passion for music. And the core of great music to me is Rock and Roll. You can categorize, label, and put it in genres, but if it's good it's just plain Rock And Roll to me.
I've always been a fan of early originators of Rock and Roll whom four legendary ones are represented in "Million Dollar Quartet". "Million Dollar Quartet" is set on December 4, 1956, when an auspicious twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley together. Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll” who was responsible for launching the careers of each icon, brought the four legendary musicians together at the Sun Records storefront studio in Memphis for the first and only time. The resulting evening became known as one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll jam sessions in history.
The set design for the stage was very impressive. The majority of the show takes place in Sam Philips studio, control room, and just outside (for the occasional smoke, discussions, and run for drinks). It looked genuine and really transported me to a time that I love, but never got to experience.
The show starts with Sam Phillips (Christopher Ryan Grant) and Sun Records newly signed Jerry Lee Lewis (Martin Kaye). These two were my favorite of the entire show. Martin had Jerry's infamous hair and was a true character. I'm a big Jerry Lee Lewis fan and I can truthfully said he nailed it. And Christopher Ryan Grant should never be out of work for the rest of his life. The guy can act. I kept my eye on him for the entire show to see if I would see a break in character, but it never happened. So are all Broadway musical actors this good?
Slowly more of these early Rock and Roll pioneers come strolling into Sun Studios including Carl Perkins (Lee Ferris ). Johnny Cash (Derek Keeling), and Elvis Presley (Cody Slaughter). Elvis brings his girlfriend Dyanne (Kelly Lamont) (at the real session, Elvis' girlfriend was a dancer named Marilyn) along to the studio with him. Rounding out the musicians jamming are Fluke (Billy Shaffer) on drums and Jay Perkins (Chuck Zayas) on bass.
The musicians jam on their own songs, do cover tunes, and jam on each others tracks. Sam Phillips helped bring Rock and Roll to the masses. With that came money and the business aspect of the music industry which is represented in this show as well. Elvis at this point was mainstream and was a big success. He was craving the old days of being on a small label since he had left Sun for the monster label that was RCA. Johnny Cash was getting too big for Sun and was heading to Columbia Records which Sam Phillips was unaware of. Then you had Carl Perkins who was a great guitar player and writer, but mainstream success was always fleeting him. One case in point was when Elvis had a huge hit with the song "Blue Suede Shoes" which Carl wrote. And then there's Jerry Lee Lewis. A cocky newbie to Sun who could only foresee success in his future with Sun and he was right.
The legendary night is brought to life with a eclectic score of rock, gospel, R&B and country hits including "Sixteen Tons,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Matchbox,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” and more. Elvis' date Dyanne gets in the action as well and does a great version of Peggy Lee's “Fever”.
The sound was fantastic and the show was backed by great acting and musicians. The Sun Studios story was wrapped up with a actual picture of the four legends taken that night on December 4, 1956. I've been viewing that photo for years now and to see the cast posing below it in the exact setup surely made me feel the show was something special. It was as close I was going to be to that evening.
After that legendary tale was told, the studio set came up and a Vegas style stage show complete with a wall of lights behind the cast was revealed and each artist rocked out to some of their biggest hits after putting on their shiny sequined jackets of course.
I was mostly surrounded by people 20 to 30 years my senior who stood up from their seats during Elvis' "Hound Dog" and made it feel like a real rock show.
I can't recommend this show enough. Take your parents, or better yet take the children and school them in real music.
The Fisher Theatre is a fantastic venue with easy and free parking so what are you waiting for?
For more info on the "MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET" which is in Detroit till Feb. 5 please check out...http://www.broadwayindetroit.com
