A Million Reasons to See ‘Quartet’

It’s way too much of a cliché to say that a rock concert blew the roof off the venue, but there’s no doubt that there will be a “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” at the New Vic Theatre when Ensemble Theatre Company performs Million Dollar Quartet from December 4-22. The Jerry Lee Lewis classic is part of the cavalcade of 1950s hits made famous by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Lewis, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Walk the Line,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Hound Dog” and many more.

The Tony Award-nominated jukebox musical is set on a single date, December 4, 1956, when a twist of fate, and some marketing muscle from Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, brought Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Lewis together at the Memphis studio.

“The whole thing was orchestrated by Phillips, and he even brought in a photographer, who was the one who dubbed the session the Million Dollar Quartet,” explained director Brian McDonald, who also runs ETC’s education program. “It was a moment for Phillips, whose passion was to bring the raw sound of the south to the masses. That meant a lot of influence from Black artists, which was a very difficult sell at the time. So he had signed all these white artists who were deeply influenced by the Southern Black sound and packaged them for the people.” 

While it all takes place on that fateful December date, the story is fleshed out by Phillips serving as narrator, sharing each of the artists’ history and his relationship with them. 

“It touches upon where they are in their lives and the changes that they’re all about to go through with their careers and their situation,” McDonald said. “Sun was the home where they had established their identities, and Sam is trying to hold the family together and save his company, and we feel that current of tension underneath as it builds through the show. The structure is really strong – and we’re treating the show like a play with music, with the songs played within the context of the studio setting.” 

But the music of course is what gives the show its mass appeal, and having a cast and musician-actors that have all previously performed their roles adds a professional polish to the musical. The play’s coda is the climactic scene.

“The curtain call is really a big concert,” McDonald said. “The set goes away and everything changes, and the audience is treated to the fantasy concert with these four legends that never actually happened.”