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Million Dollar Quartet
(Million Dollar Quartet Website)
At
The Apollo Theater
(Apollo Theater Website)
2540 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60614
773.935.6100
To January 3, 2010
Relevant Theatricals, John Cossette Productions,
Northern Lights, Inc.
Book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux
Starring: Eddie Clendening, Lance Guest,
Levi Kreis, Robert Lyons, Kelly Lamont,
Tim Decker, Billy Shaffer, Chuck Zayas
Direction: Floyd Mutrux & Eric Schaeffer
Scenic Design: Adam Koch
Costume Design: Caryn Klein
Lighting Design: Keith Parham
Sound Design: Kai Harada
Casting: Claire Simon
Production Stage Manager: Maggie O’Donnell
Production Management: Matt Marsden
Advertising and Marketing: Allied Live
Public Relations: Cathy Taylor
General Management: Alan Wasser, Allan Williams, Karen Berry
Musical Arrangements and Supervision: Chuck Mead
Susan Weinrebe
November 5, 2009
It’s the one year anniversary of the show that’s been shaking things up in Chicago; Million Dollar Quartet, given today’s inflation, makes this rollicking production worth at least a billion in fun and musicality. Million Dollar Quartet is the true account of one extraordinary day in the winter of 1956 when four gods of rock ‘n’ roll came together, jammed at their recording studio, Sun Records, and then went their separate ways.
Some might think it apocryphal that Johnny Cash (Lance Guest), Jerry Lee Lewis (Levi Kreis), Carl Perkins (Rob Lyons), and Elvis Presley (Eddie Clendening) and his girlfriend at the time, Dyanne (Kelly Lamont), met and jammed in Sam Phillips’ (Tim Decker) studio. Yet, there is an archival photo and recorded tape to prove it really happened. What actually went on between these musical giants on the day they stopped in to see the man who gave them their breaks? Well, that’s the story in between the lines of the impromptu session Phillips recorded.
After a year’s seasoning in their parts, the actors/singers/musicians carry their roles with a deepened blend of interpretation and impersonation. The two sidemen, Billy Shaffer on drums and Chuck Zayas on bass, back the singing, piano, and guitars with additional character and flourish in their own right. Clendening is a looser Elvis, more at ease with the sensuality of his role and the physicality of Elvis’ movements. Guest is humble yet authoritative as Cash. Lyons has softened Perkins’ angry jockeying for place as he strives for his next hit. Lamont, an eye magnet, balances her girlfriend status with sizzle as she delivers her numbers. And Kreis, killer of the keyboard, builds a wild energy with his playing and characterization, until he drives the audience into a frenzy.
The cast of Million Dollar Quartet delivers a lotta bucks in entertainment and fun, but only until January 3 in the New Year, when it goes Broadway bound.
Levi Kreis as Jerry Lee Lewis
on the piano with the cast of
"Million Dollar Quartet"
Courtesy of Paul Natkin
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