“Million Dollar Quartet” Makes History at

STAGES, Just as it did in Memphis in 1956

                              by Pat Lindsey

Great balls of fire! There’s a whole lot of shaking going on with the “Million Dollar Quartet” at STAGES this month! Seeing this show is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you won’t want to miss.
This true story happened a few weeks before Christmas on December 4, 1956 in the tiny recording studio of Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a Tuesday and Sam Phillips (Jeff Cummings) was working in his studio when an unknown guy named Jerry Lee Lewis (Brady Wease) showed up to announce that he would be his next big recording artist. Lewis was untamed, loud, and obnoxious and unaware that he was about to meet three rock-n-roll legends who would serendipitously stop by Sun Records that evening. They were Carl Perkins (Jeremy Sevelovitz), Johnny Cash (Scott Moreau), and Elvis Presley (Edward LaCardo).

What resulted that fateful night was an impromptu jam session of four of America’s greatest musical icons who got their start at Sun Records. It couldn’t have happened anywhere else.
At this time in history, Sam Phillips had already sold Elvis Presley’s contract to RCA just to keep Sun Records financially solvent. RCA had made Elvis a film and recording star, but Elvis wasn’t happy there. Unbeknownst to Phillips, Johnny Cash was planning to leave Sun and sign on with Columbia Records. And Carl Perkins was disgruntled because others, including Elvis, were performing his songs. Their reasons for being at Sun Records were very different, but the music they created that night could not have been better if they had planned it. When you listen to them jam, it’s no wonder they all made it to the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame.

The actors in this production are multi-talented. They are phenomenal musicians, singers, and actors. Brady Wease can tickle the keys as fast and flamboyantly as Jerry Lee Lewis ever could. It’s too bad his energy can’t be bottled. The quartet is backed up by two more musicians–Jay Perkins (Chuck Zayas) and W.S. “Fluke” Holland (David Sonneborn). The only female there that night was Elvis’s girlfriend, Dyanne (Shelby Ringdahl). She gives a sizzling performance of Peggy Lee’s hit, “Fever” and displays her powerful vocals on Fats Domino’s  “I Hear You Knockin’.” They also performed songs by several other recording artists from the 1950s.

In all, the quartet and soloists perform more than two dozen well-known songs, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Down By the Riverside,” “Peace in the Valley,” “Ghost Riders In The Sky,” and “Great Balls of Fire.” Scott Moreau as Johnny Cash can hit the lowest bass notes and Edward LaCardo gyrates and taunts the ladies in the audience as believably as Elvis did. Carl Perkins, who was known as a rockabilly artist, gets the audience moving with “See You Later Alligator.”
Although the music is the biggest and best part of this show, there is a good story with a lot of emotion behind it. That’s why it won a Tony Award in 2010 and continues to entertain audiences of all generations. Director and choreographer, Keith Andrews, has done an excellent job of bringing the book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux to life.

The finale is like a Christmas present all wrapped up with glitter and bows. The electrical energy in the theatre will get you on your feet and rocking to the music during multiple encores. And I’m guaranteeing you’ll go home feeling happy about the history you just witnessed.
“Million Dollar Quartet” is the perfect finale to the 37th STAGES’s season. It is being performed now through Oct. 8 at the Ross Family Theatre at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center. Performance times vary. For more information, go to StagesStlouis.org or call the box office at 314-821-2407.

The lineup for the 38th season in 2024 has been announced and it’s a good one. It will begin with “Steel Magnolias” followed by Disney’s “Newsies,” and the finale will be “Ragtime.” More information will be forthcoming soon.

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