review

milt thomas

Imagine if the Beatles held a reunion and you were invited to attend as it happened. Now imagine you are invited to an impromptu reunion of the four biggest pre-Beatles rock stars early in their careers. That my friends, is what I’m talking about – you are all invited to experience the Million Dollar Quartet at Riverside Theatre!

This is not your everyday musical event – it is a vintage 1950s rock concert. Four icons of early rock and roll – Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley – sing and play their way through a 22-song playlist right in front of you on the Stark Stage. You know the songs and your kids probably do, too, because the Beatles themselves idolized these guys so much, some of the songs in this show were later recorded by the Beatles. in fact, four of those songs are actually owned today by Paul McCartney’s publishing company, MPL Music Publishing.

Million Dollar Quartet, for those who might not know, is about a chance reunion of Perkins, Cash, Lewis and Presley at Sun Records on December 4, 1956. These musicians all had their start with owner Sam Phillips and his small Memphis recording label but gradually moved on to major labels. They arrived that cold December night to see Phillips, who mentored all of them.

Carl Perkins (played by Chance Michael Wall) was there that night to record a follow up to his big hit, “Blue Suede Shoes.” Elvis (Alessandro Viviano), who left the Sun label months earlier, arrived with his girlfriend Dyanne (Lucy Rhoades) just to revisit old times. Phillips had sold his contract to RCA for $35,000, small money even back in the days of 25 cents per gallon gasoline. Elvis already had a string of hits on RCA, including a cover of Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes,” that would be forever associated with Elvis, not Perkins. This creates some brief tension between the two rising stars. Sam Phillips’ latest discovery, Jerry Lee Lewis (Sean McGibbon with a serious case of ADHD), is just starting out and is only known at that time for his brash manner and cocky self-confidence. Far from a sure thing, he played piano in a guitar dominated music world. Johnny Cash then arrived, hot off his million selling Sun hit, “Folsom Prison Blues.” But he is there to tell Phillips some news that Sam would not want to hear. Sam Phillips is played by Joel Ripka as a man often knocked down in life, but always back on his feet to try again.

Story line aside, the magic in this show is in the music. These actor/singer/musicians move from one song to the next, accompanied by the studio drummer named Fluke (Zach Cossman) and upright bass player, Brother Jay (Ian Haegele), who plays his bass fiddle upright, laying on it or laying beside it. They obviously spend too much time together.

The musicianship is outstanding, especially Jerry Lee Lewis, who gives his piano the equivalent of a Thai massage with his fingers, hands, feet, arms and legs all over it, never missing a note. Yet the music he extracts from that instrument is nothing short of incredible. Even the piano was perspiring after his encore performance of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”

While the actors have a passing resemblance to the music legends they portray, their singing voices are close to the real thing.

Most of the songs are familiar to all, either as the original hits by these artists and others, or in several cases as cover songs by the group who idolized them, the Beatles. Interestingly, only four of the songs were written by these artists themselves. Back before the Beatles, songwriters created the music that artists performed, like screenwriters produce the scripts that actors perform. The Beatles, however, were one of the first artists to include original songs in their performances and ultimately, featured their original compositions exclusively.

Million Dollar Quartet plays at the Riverside Theatre until November 12, with tickets starting at $45. They can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 772-231-6990 or online at www.riversidetheatre.com.