BENGALURU: In the history of rock ’n’ roll, December 4, 1956 is a date that holds huge significance. It was on this day that music icons Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis – who are no less that gods for music lovers – came together at Sun Records Studios in Memphis to jam for the first — and only— time. The accidental recording of this impromptu jam session was named the Million Dollar Quartet.
And now, music lovers from Bengaluru will get a chance to get a glimpse of this epic moment, thanks to a Tony award-winning Broadway and West End musical, also called Million Dollar Quartet, making its city debut from February 26 to March 1.
Director Ian Talbot, who was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2007 for his services to the arts, brings this fabled meeting to life in a musical poised to have the energy of a rock ’n’ roll concert.
Premiering in 2006 at Florida’s Seaside Music Theatre, the musical has also been staged at Chicago, Las Vegas and other states across USA. In conversation with CE, Talbot recalls how the main difficulty was finding the right cast, with the right expertise, since that would achieve 70 per cent of the task.
“When it was originally performed, I believe more emphasis was placed on the music. I have tried to balance both music and words. It is a wonderful story, even more so because it is true,” says Talbot, who asserts that nothing has been altered in the story.
Playing characters as iconic as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash is nothing less than risky, since it comes with the burden of expectations from fans. But for the artistes portraying the musicians, the experience has been extraordinary. “Listening to Elvis records and interviews was my nightly homework. I’ve always been a fan but having to play him required many more hours of dedicated preparation,” says Ross William Wild, who plays Presley in the production. Irrespective of the generation one comes from, audience members only have good things to say about the show, says the director.
“They love to dance in the aisles and we’ve had a few shows in 2017 where the whole audience was dancing. It’s an amazing feeling to watch that,” adds Wild. The quartet kicks off with Blue Suede Shoes and hits like Hound Dog, I Walk the Line and many more, along with a score of 24 timeless dancefloor classics.
While this is the crew’s first performance in Bengaluru, it is not their first in India. “India blew my mind, stole my heart and rocked my soul,” says Robbie Durham, who plays Johnny Cash. He added that he particularly loved the cultural excitement of Mumbai, where they performed in 2017, the beauty of Kerala and Goa, pointing out that the people who came to see them and looked after them were full of life and appreciation.
“I still remember the kids dancing in the theatre foyer after the show,” he says.Million Dollar Quartet will be staged in Bengaluru from February 26 to March 1, at St. John’s Auditorium, Koramangala.
The iconic day, decoded
On December 4, 1956, Elvis showed up near the end of Perkins recording session. He, along with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, started talking, playing and singing. Not wanting to let this unique session go unrecorded, sound technician Jack Clement kept the recording switch on.
Since no one knew that Clement had recorded the session, the recording went unnoticed, into the Sun Records library, where it remained for decades until discovered by a new owner of Sun Records as they worked through the contents of the library. It was recorded and released in Europe in 1981 and in the United States in 1990.