Music Review

Musical peeks in on 1956 jam session in Memphis

The magic of the early days of rock 'n' roll came together as the touring production of Million Dollar Quartet, presented by Celebrity Attractions and the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, took to the stage at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center.

The show is based on the true story of that fateful day of December 4, 1956, in Memphis when early rock pioneers who went on to become legends -- Elvis Presley (Jacob Rowley), Johnny Cash (Scott Moreau), Jerry Lee Lewis (performed by Colte Julian on Friday and James Scheider today and Sunday) and Carl Perkins (Gabe Bowling) -- gathered together in Sun Recording Studios in Memphis and, in so doing, created rock 'n' roll history.

The show is being staged in four performances this weekend in Maumelle -- roughly just two hours west of where this musical history occurred.

The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical was inspired by the true tale of the famed session that brought together the four rock 'n' roll icons. The stage production gives its audience a peek inside the recording studio as the four legendary musicians gather together to make music for the one and only time.

The jam session appears to have been impromptu with Perkins in the studio to cut new material and Lewis brought in to play piano. During it, Presley and Cash each dropped by to visit and wound up in the studio with the other two. Jack Clement, serving as engineer that day, recorded it.

Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips' call to the local newspaper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar resulted in an article and photo of the four in the paper the next day. Music from the recording was first released in Europe in 1981 and was later released in this country in 1990 as Elvis Presley -- The Million Dollar Quartet.

The show, at 90 minutes with no intermission, features 23 musical performances.

During the end of Friday's performance only, former Sun Studio recording artists -- Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers who hail from Newport -- were brought onstage to perform their Sun hit single "Red-Headed Woman" with the cast.

Other performances at the theater on 100 Victory Lane are 2 p.m. matinees today and Sunday and an 8 p.m. performance tonight. Tickets, at $40-$75, are available via Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 and online via Celebrity Attractions and Ticketmaster.

Metro on 04/25/2015

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