Wyatt Wireman, Armando Gutierrez, Rusin Cole and Ana Marcu (Photo by Scott Smeltzer)
Reviewed by Joel Beers
South Coast Repertory
Through October 19
RECOMMENDED
You know what you’re in for with this show long before it starts: music, and plenty of it. Six guitars, an upright bass, drum kit, piano, amps, mics, and gold records on the walls — the set drops us inside the Memphis Recording Service, home to Sun Records, the Sam Phillips-owned label that launched Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley.
On Dec. 4, 1956, those four all happened to gather there. Perkins was cutting a follow-up to “Blue Suede Shoes,” with the then-unknown Lewis on keys. Presley, already sold to RCA, popped by. Cash, fresh off “I Walk the Line,” dropped in too. Phillips, never one to miss a moment, called the press and hit record. The resulting jam session was later dubbed the “Million Dollar Quartet.”
So far, so accurate. But where Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux’s jukebox musical (which earned three 2008 Tony Award nominations) veers from history is that only a handful of its 22 songs were part of that legendary session, which mostly consisted of gospel snippets the four musicians knew from their rural Southern upbringings.
Instead, the creators of Million Dollar Quartet fashioned an early-career greatest-hits package, including material originally recorded or popularized by the four, such as Perkins’s “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Matchbox,” Presley’s “That’s All Right Mama” and “Hound Dog,” Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”— along with covers like “Who Do You Love,” “See You Later Alligator,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” and “Long Tall Sally.”
The show also invents a bigger role for Presley’s then-girlfriend Dyanne (based on the real Marilyn Evans). Played here by Ana Marcu, she delivers “Fever” and “I Hear You Knocking” with such style that her presence feels earned.
That talent echoes throughout the cast, from Austin Gutierrez on drums and Wyatt Wireman on bass to Michael Manuel’s likable but crafty Phillips, who narrates and nudges the story along without ever getting in the way of the music, reinforcing themes of loyalty, survival, and authenticity.
Of course, every version of Quartet rests on the musical and performing chops of the four principals. Co-directors James Moyer and Kim Martin-Cotten (ably assisted by South Coast Repertory’s design team, including Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz’s lighting and Efren Delgadillo Jr. and Brandon P.T. Davis’s scenic design) has four ringers— three returning from SCR’s 2022 staging at the Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Armando Gutierrez, as Perkins, drives the music with blistering guitar and a simmering frustration at being overshadowed. Rustin Cole Sailors’s Elvis can’t quite match the real man’s magnetism — who could? — but he holds the stage. Chris Marsh Clark nails Cash’s rumbling baritone, even if the character is underwritten.
And then we come to the one newcomer in this production: JP Coletta’s Lewis. Based on his bio, he seems to be a musician who acts rather than the other way around (among his credits is a show celebrating the history of piano in rock ’n’ roll). But his acting and musicianship here are electrifying. He’s young, cocky, and hellbent on proving he’s the rising star destined to eclipse the others. He’s also clearly studied the original Lewis, borrowing everything from his demonic pounding on the piano to playing it with his ass and even at a 45-degree angle.
While Lewis’s three numbers are the show’s most incendiary, Cash’s are the ones that linger. Not just because they’re low-key — as are the gospel tunes “Down by the Riverside” and “Peace in the Valley”— but because they dig deeper. Whether it’s his cover of Merle Travis’ “Sixteen Tons,” Sam Jones’ metaphysical “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” or his own compositions like “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line,” his meditation on marital commitment, these are songs that wrestle, in some way, with economic hardship, freedom, mortality and vows that are well-intentioned but impossible to live by.
It’s in those songs — and in Phillips’ rueful wish that his stars had found more happiness in their lives beyond the studio — that this rollicking trek down musical memory lane slips the jukebox frame, and where a collection of songs written and recorded for the hit parade suddenly reflect on the human condition.
South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. Wed,, 7 p.m.; Thurs.-Fri. 7:30 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. www.scr.com. Running time two hours, including a 15-minute intermission.
