Million Dollar Quartet at the Old Log Theatre

Million Dollar Quartet: The Musical is a musical that takes place on December 4th 1956 at the Sun Records Studio. It’s based on an actual event when Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash all happened to be in the same place at the same time and ended up jamming together. The session was caught on tape and has been released in various formations beginning in 1981. In total there were 46 tracks, though most are incomplete songs, in total in runs a little under one hour and 20 minutes. It’s an interesting and historical moment in rock and roll history to be sure. Wisely, the authors of the musical, Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, use it as an incident to build a story around. Rather than utilizing the songs that were actually apart of that recorded jam session, they’ve sprinkled the show with a mixture of the four legends hits. The story such as it is, is threadbare and contrived and if you came to this show for a gritty behind the music drama about the early days in the music business, you’d be sorely disappointed. But, that is not the reason you should be attending Million Dollar Quartet: The Musical. The reason to venture out to the wild west of Excelsior to the Old Log theatre is the music. If you go with that in mind, you’re going to have a great time.

The show really comes down to the performers who are actually playing their own instruments. The star of the real recording session, according to Johnny Cash, was Elvis but in this production the performer that steals the show is Elijah Leer as Jerry Lee Lewis. Leer has Lewis’s flairtastic piano moves down, he stands to play, he sits to play, he plays while sitting on top of the piano. He also does a great job of mimicking Lewis’s unique vocal qualities. He goes for broke, which you need to do when playing Lewis, and it pays off. The second scene stealer comes from an unexpected corner, the character is Dyanne played by Myia Ann Butler. She is a stand in for Elvis’ girlfriend at the time Marilyn Evans who was a dancer. Dyanne on the other hand is a singer, which allows Butler to give us a fantastic rendition of the Peggy Lee song “Fever“. The character isn’t there for any reason other than Elvis had a girlfriend with him, but they don’t add any unnecessary jealous drama, instead she’s there to add a little class, some sex appeal, and give some stellar vocal performances. Mitchell Dallman plays Carl Perkins, the real life singer I’m least familiar, but he gives a good performance and sounds great rocking out. Eric Sargent plays Johnny Cash, he sings well in Cash’s style and is able to play the guitar in Cash’s unique style, he doesn’t look much like Cash, but what matters is the voice and he’s close enough on that count. Armando Harlow Ronconi plays Elvis Presley, he can play, he can sing, and he can dance, but there is a nagging sense watching him that he should be in Jersey Boys over at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Elvis is so iconic that it’s almost impossible for an actor to pull off, Ronconi tries, and it isn’t a bad singing or acting performance, there’s just something that screams ‘this isn’t Elvis’ about him. That isn’t his fault, butmore a casting issue. Playing someone that iconic, there has to be some aspect of being so spot on it overrides all the other things that would pull an audience out.

The show is directed by Christine O’Grady and she does everything right. She doesn’t let us get to bogged down in the flimsy plotline revolving around various contracts. She knows that’s just the little nuggets of story we need to get to the music and doesn’t give them more of the spotlight than is necessary. I like the set design by Erik Paulson, which is the Studio with the famous photo of the Million Dollar Quartet on the soundproofing tiles. It easily flies off stage when it comes time for the finale, which is really just some talented musicians and singers giving the audience a mini concert. But hey, let’s face it, that’s why we really came. The Music Director is Kyle Baker who is also on stage playing bass as Carl’s brother, Jay Perkins and he’s actually quite funny as well.

Million Dollar Quartet: The Musical is running out at Old Log Theatre for the foreseeable future tickets are on sale through February 17th 2024 at this time. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://oldlog.com/Shows/Million-Dollar-Quartet.

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