Editor’s note: when you didn’t think ACT of CT could surpass the benchmark of theatrical brilliance, they have done it again. MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is pure GOLD. We recently attended a "Sneak Peek" of the upcoming performance with a group of ACT supporters. ** Please note that the image you see here is from ACT’s tech rehearsal.
Take a journey back in time to experience an impromptu event that brought together the founders of rock and roll and paved the way for music as we know it today.
ACT of CT is allowing you to witness an actual event that took place inside Sun Studios in Memphis on December 4, 1956. The small time-worn recording venue, owned by Sam Phillips [Bart Shatto] became hallowed ground when a jam session featuring Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash changed the course of music forever.
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET takes the stage at ACT of CT from February 21 through March 17. Get your tickets to ACT of Connecticut’s MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at https://www.actofct.org/.
What makes this particular production so powerful is that each member of the production has such a deep reverence for the music itself. The cast is not only talented but obsessed with infusing each performance with authenticity. During Scott Moreau [Johnny Cash] exemplified this passion when he shared with Sneak Peek attendees his profound admiration for Johnny Cash, recounting how his dedication to portraying Cash led him to connect with Cash’s relatives and bandmates. The brilliantly talented cast features Alessandro Viviano as Elvis Presley, Nat Zegree as Jerry Lee Lewis, Christopher Wren as Carl Perkins, Bart Shatto as Sam Phillips, and Megan Reinking as Dyanne.
Unlike other ACT of CT productions, there is no orchestra backing up the cast for this production - it is the actors who also comprise the band - making casting this show a challenge. “There are no other musicians aside from what you see on stage,” says Levine. “You need to not only cast extraordinary actors that can portray these legendary characters, but they have to be able to play instruments.”
The music of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET evokes a sense of nostalgia, transporting listeners back to their youth. Foster recounted a tear-jerking moment. Most audience members cannot help but tap their feet and start to move when the music starts. But one night, Foster recalls an elderly woman using a walker who came to a production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET. After being helped to her seat, this theater-goer was quickly transported back in time to a glorious moment in her youth. She rose from her seat, grabbed her walker, moved into the aisle, and began to dance.
Don’t miss this EPIC production! Slip on your blue suede shoes! Get your tickets to MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at https://www.actofct.org/million-dollar-quartet.