Million Dollar Quartet concluded its 523-performance Broadway run June 12, 2011, at the Nederlander Theatre, after opening in April 2010. On June 7 producers announced that Million Dollar Quartet would follow a handful of other Broadway productions, including Avenue Q and The 39 Steps, in transferring Off-Broadway to New World Stages for more cost-efficient runs.
The Off-Broadway production reunites several members of the original Broadway principal cast, including Eddie Clendening (Elvis Presley), Lance Guest (Johnny Cash) and Robert Britton Lyons (Carl Perkins), as well as David Abeles (Jerry Lee Lewis), Victoria Matlock (Dyanne) and James Moye (Sam Phillips), who are also veterans of the Broadway production.
All tickets for the Off-Broadway engagement are $89.50.
Relevant Theatricals, John Cossette Productions, American Pop Anthology, Broadway Across America and James L. Nederlander produce Million Dollar Quartet.
The musical will launch its U.S. tour this October in Cleveland, OH. Open-ended productions also continue in Chicago and London. The production earned a 2010 Best Musical Tony nomination, as well as a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical. Original cast member Levi Kreis, who played Jerry Lee Lewis, won the Best Featured Actor in a Musical Tony Award.
Eric Schaeffer staged the musical based on the real-life 1956 recording that the foursome (Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis) made at Sun Records' studio in Memphis. Million Dollar Quartet has a book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux; the latter conceived and originally directed the musical.
The creative team includes Derek McLane (scenic design), Howell Binkley (lighting design), Jane Greenwood (costume design), Kai Harada (sound design) and Chuck Mead (musical arrangements and supervision).
"On Dec. 4, 1956," production notes state, "an auspicious twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together. The place was Sun Records' storefront studio in Memphis. The man who made it happen was Sam Phillips, the 'Father of Rock 'n' Roll,' who discovered them all. The four legends-to-be united for the only time in their careers for an impromptu recording that has come to be known as one of the greatest rock jam sessions of all time. . . . Million Dollar Quartet captures the infectious spirit, freewheeling excitement and thrilling sounds of a singular moment when four of the music industry's most extraordinary talents, all in their creative prime, came together for one of the most memorable nights in music history."
For tickets and more information visit MillionDollarQuartetLive.
