[78-L] Million Dollar Quartet

[Cary Ginell]

It was nice to see Colin Escott nominated for a Tony Award for his work on "Million Dollar Quartet," which was nominated for Best Musical. I didn't think this show would be much, but apparently they did a good job re-creating the chance meeting in the Sun Studios in December 1956 of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and an upstart RCA artist named Elvis. It's getting rave reviews from critics starved for anything remotely related to entertainment (a musical version of "The Addams Family?" Give me a break...) 

What I can't stand is all of the pundits and reporters who keep calling this a "recording session" when it was nothing of the kind. The four just happened to be in the same place at the same time and Sam Phillips had the presence of mind to turn on a tape recorder. There was never any intent to issue the recordings - they were informal and sloppy, filled with unfinished songs, bad miking, laughter and joke telling, and a lot of gospel material that Phillips would never think was commercial. And besides, Cash was barely there at all, so most of what you heard on the tapes consists of Lewis, Perkins, & Presley. The Broadway version only has two songs that were actually performed at the session; the rest were more or less from the time period. But I can grant that kind of poetic license. Turning a meeting of happenstance into a bonafide Broadway musical, much less a good one, took a lot of talent and creativity. To expose Broadway theatergoers to these four brilliant entertainers is certainly a lot more refreshing than Green Day's "American Idiot" or the '80s arena rock spectacle "Rock of Ages." I hope to see "Million $ Quartet" the next time I'm in New York.

Cary Ginell
 		 	   		  
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your inbox.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_2