Think about this: What are the chances we could get four of today’s biggest musical icons together in one room, have them mostly check their egos at the door and invite them to just do what they do best: make music.
Sure, we’d flip the switch in the control room to capture the musical magic, but no social media influencers stalking the hallways. No media or publicists sending out press releases.
Just four musicians forgetting about everything, including what lies beyond that studio door and just jamming.
That’s what happened on Dec. 4, 1956, when Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash found themselves quite by coincidence in Sam Phillips’ iconic Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
They didn’t set out to be together that night; no one sent an embossed invitation “for your eyes only.” Each arrived with a different reason for needing or wanting to see Phillips, who played a role in their early careers and the birth of rock music as a whole.
It was a seminal rock-and-roll moment captured in a black-and-white photograph and a historic recording that sat on a shelf until it was released in Europe in 1981.
News of that night came out in the local Memphis Press-Scimitar with the headline “The Million Dollar Quartet.”
That’s also the name of Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux’s 2006 jukebox musical dramatizing that night. The play went to Broadway in 2010 and has been produced by regional theater companies around the country; this weekend, it’s Tucson’s Saguaro City Music Theatre's turn.
“It’s a really wonderful way to showcase that music that the audience is gong to recognize and love, and to learn ... more about that iconic era,” said Saguaro City Music Theatre founder and artistic director Drew Humphrey, who is directing the production. It opens Friday, Oct. 4, and plays weekends through Oct. 20 at Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway, on the campus of the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind.
Humphrey said “Million Dollar Quartet” is Saguaro City’s most ambitious production. Cast members, who play their own instruments and sing, came in from all over the country, veteran performers who make a living slipping into the skin of those iconic characters in a number of musical theater iterations, tribute shows and “Million Dollar Quartet.”
The cast of Saguaro City Music Theatre’s “Million Dollar Quartet,” from left, Wyatt Andrew Brownell as Jerry Lee Lewis; Tarif Pappu as Carl Perkins; Colton Sims as Elvis Presley; and Michael D. Potter as Johnny Cash.
Michael D. Potter is the embodiment of Johnny Cash, says castmate Tyler Wright, one of two Tucsonans in the production; Wright plays Sam Phillips, while Tucson singer-actress Crystal Stark plays Elvis’s girlfriend Dyanne. Potter has been part of a number of “Million Dollar Quartet” productions including playing Elvis.
Elvis is being played by 23-year-old Atlanta, Georgia, native Colton Sims, who in a Saguaro City Instagram post, said he will be performing on the guitar he bought with his dad when he was 13. His Tucson appearance is his first doing the show.
“It is kind of unbelievable to watch him do Elvis Presley,” Humphrey said. “Twenty-three years old, never done the show and as much a 23-year-old Elvis as you can imagine.”
“He really embodies Elvis,” added Wright. “When people think of Elvis they think of the Vegas Elvis with the jumpsuits. This is the young Elvis.”
Legendary performer Elvis Presley sang to a capacity crowd at Tucson Convention Center on Nov. 9, 1972.
Elvis has previously performed at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds on June 10, 1956, when he was just 21 years old. Video by Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Louisiana native Wyatt Andrew Brownell brings us his well-honed take on Jerry Lee Lewis, earned from playing the character in several “Million Dollar Quartet” productions; and Tarif Pappu, who has played Carl Perkins in a number of productions around the country.
The cast also includes James Gallardo as Carl’s brother Jay Perkins and Joel Dunst as Perkins’ drummer Fluke.
The show features 22 songs from Presley’s “That’s All Right” to Perkins’ “Matchbox,” Lewis’ ubiquitous “Great Balls of Fire” and Cash’s signature “Folsum Prison Blues.” But beyond the music, “Million Dollar Quartet” takes literary license to delve into the jealousies, ambitions, loves, losses and disappointments that separated, united and made these artists icons.
At the center of the story is Sam Phillips, who gave all four their start and nurtured their early careers, only to see them leave him when they became larger than life.
“It’s really neat to play that sort of guy who feels a bit betrayed but he’s happy with their success,” Wright said of his character.
“You have this incredible music, 22 chart-topping hits all night long, but what makes it rich is this father-son story,” added Humphrey. “It really tackles those themes that everyone can relate to in an honest, beautiful way.”
Tucson actress/singer Crystal Stark plays Dyanne in Saguaro City Music Theatre’s “Million Dollar Quartet.” Here she rehearses a scene with fellow Tucson actor Tyler Wright as Sam Phillips.
Saguaro City performances are at 7 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 6:30 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $26.50-$45.50 through saguarocity.org.
