Review: 'Million Dollar Quartet' Has Incredible Performances
By Bridgette M. Redman, EncoreMichigan.com
"Million Dollar Quartet" attempts to capture a moment in music history, a moment that did not in itself change anything, but rather showed a picture of how music was evolving and what the culture would become. Its strength is in recreating that picture while its weakness is in attempting to be something more than a snapshot.
As performers, the actors portraying the million-dollar quartet of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis surpass mere imitation and believably portray these superstars of early rock 'n' roll.
Lee Ferris gives Perkins a chip on his shoulder while playing a mean guitar. Derek Keeling is the somber and respectful "man in black" with the deep, reverberating voice of Cash. Martin Kaye is a splashy Jerry Lee Lewis whose flamboyant confidence blinds him to how his hillbilly behavior blackens his reputation amongst even the other Southern boys.
Billy Woodward walks the most delicate line, creating an Elvis Presley that is true to the superstar's look and sound without being a cheesy imitator of the type found at state fairs and country western bars.
All four build their characters around the hook that made these figures distinctive and memorable. What truly wins the audience over, however, is their ability to jam to the greatest hits as sung in the surviving recordings of this impromptu jam session.
When Sam Phillips, played by Christopher Ryan Grant, says he knew upon hearing them play that he had his next hit, he is extremely credible. Each of these actors is a musician first, and they rock hard with both their voices and their instrument of choice.
The instruments take a pounding all night as Kaye slams on the keyboard and then jumps onto the piano itself in an exuberance that cannot be contained. Chuck Zayas as the bass player Jay Perkins spins his bass, uses it as a percussion instrument and eventually holds it while the other singers climb upon it.
Were the musical simply a revue or a true recreation of that Dec. 4, 1956 session in which the four musical legends gathered to play at Sun Records studio, "Million Dollar Quartet" might have been more effective. However, it attempts to be more than a jukebox musical by imposing a story with conflicts that feel forced and a moodiness that conveys melancholy rather than excitement or fun.
The characters, particularly Elvis' girlfriend Dyanne, played by Kelly Lamont, keep having to tell us how much fun everyone is having in the jam session. If they didn't, no one would think the musicians were enjoying themselves for the tensions are constantly heightened and there is little that dispels the sense of tragedy overhanging each of these people's lives.
It becomes the story of Sam Phillips more than any of the individual rockers, which is fitting given his story is probably the least known and allows for the dramatic attention to be equal to each of the four legends rather than picking one of them to highlight. However, there is too much of his story to cram into the space of a single recording session without making the script heavy-handed and overdone.
If one can discount the story and set aside a need for "Million Dollar Quartet" to be anything other than a revue, then the night is filled with incredible performances that exquisitely capture the launch of rock 'n' roll in America.
Get showtimes and tickets at http://www.encoremichigan.com
Bridgette M. Redman reviews local theater productions for www.EncoreMichigan.com, the state's most comprehensive resource for news and information about Michigan's professional theaters. Follow them on Facebook @EncoreMichigan.com.
