Million Dollar Quartet fires on all cylinders

Million Dollar Quartet lacks any of kind plot tension. Yet the turbo-powered jukebox musical that opened Thursday night is probably one of the most entertaining shows of the Citadel Theatre season.

During the last 10 minutes, the audience made up primarily of silver foxes gave the musical two standing ovations. And there were more than a few folks shaking and grooving while standing at their seats.

In a way, it was a jam session similar to the original held on Dec. 4, 1956, when four music legends – Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis – got together with their mentor, Sam Phillips, at the former auto-parts garage the producer turned into Sun Records.

Based on Phillips original tape recording, Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux have created a partially fictionalized account of the afternoon.

Anyone listening to the 60-year-old tapes may likely be disappointed. They are a patchwork of disjointed chatter and poorly recorded verses rather than the explosive rock ’n’ roll hits in the musical.

Escott and Mutrux, both savvy producers, quickly realized that fans would rather listen to a blast of rock such as Long Tall Sally and Sixteen Tons over When the Saints Go Marchin’ In, one of the original recorded songs.

By not sticking to the recorded script, we get some great vintage rock intermingled with some gentle and not so gentle ribbing between musicians who were not necessarily friends, but respected each other’s talents.

In all, there are 23 of the greatest rock ’n’ roll hits such as Blue Suede Shoes, Folsom Prison Blues, Matchbox and Great Balls of Fire.

But underneath the surface fluff, director Ted Dykstra also brings out a captivating story that provides a glimmer into the men’s showbiz insecurities, disrespected contracts, business machinations and deals, good or bad.

The four singers are at various stages of their career. Philips sold Presley’s contract to RCA and the Hollywood phenomena is making movies and landing Las Vegas gigs.

Despite the fame, the teen idol experiences moments of self-doubt especially when he was forced to eat humble pie at a disastrous Vegas show opening for nightclub comedian Shecky Greene.

Cash has broken into the big-time and his contract at Sun is about to expire. Phillips has a new three-year extension and expects Cash to sign it. The Man in Black unfortunately has inked a deal with Columbia and doesn’t know how to tell his mentor.

Despite having crossed over to another company, Cash has certain convictions. He understands how fickle the industry is and the need to strike while the iron is hot. But he’s ill at ease at walking away from the man who opened a career-making door for him.

Perkins has recorded a hit, Blue Suede Shoes, with Sun, but unfortunately has not seen a second one, and he too is prepared to ditch the man who discovered him.

In addition, Perkins has been doing a slow burn since Elvis ripped off his hit and sang Blue Suede Shoes on the Ed Sullivan Show. That one performance turned Blue Suede Shoes into Elvis’ signature song leaving Perkins in the dust.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Phillips latest find, is invited to Perkins’ recording session. Lewis is a young piano whiz whose agile fingers blaze across the keyboard while his cocky, smart-mouth attitude burns up colleagues.

The fifth singer is Dyanne, Elvis’ fictionalized girlfriend. At the original recording, Elvis’ girlfriend was Marilyn Evans, a dancer.

However, Vanessa Sears’ representation of Dyanne is smokin’ hot. In the finger-snapping Fever, Peggy Lee’s huge hit, Sears oozes sex appeal as she builds the song from a soft whisper to an intoxicating belt. And her sultry rendition of I Hear You Knockin’ delivers more than its share of heat.

The four main actors don’t just play character roles. They are gifted musicians and singers as well as charismatic actors.

Christopher Fordinal has mastered Elvis – the nasal intonations, the hip swivel, the sharp knee and heel action. And when he sings Memories Are Made of This, That’s All Right and Hound Dog, he is channeling pure Elvis.

Greg Gale as Johnny Cash scores high. His bass-baritone voice is so low that when he sang Folsom Prison Blues, I Walk The Line and Ghost Riders, if you closed your eyes, you would swear it was the real man.

Cale Penny’s role as Perkins could be viewed as the easiest. He was never as big a star as the others. But with a smouldering frustration and a keen sense of rhythm, he does a great job of conjuring Perkins’ rockabilly guitar style.

And Christo Graham as the over-caffeinated Jerry Lee Lewis is the ultimate showman. He attacks the piano with ferocious dynamism and hammers away with the spirit of an abandoned soul. To see him vault over the piano in Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On and play the ivories backwards is a sight to see.

Central to the shenanigans is Sam Phillips, a red dirt country boy turned radio man turned record producer. He has a knack for hit makers, but as actor Ryan Parker states, it wasn’t because he fell into a “luck-bucket.”

Without the distribution network of the big guns, Phillips piled his car with records and traveled from radio station to radio station giving disc jockeys Sun Record’s latest 45s. Singlehandedly, he built the four southern boys into musicians of stature when no one else would give them the time of day.

Phillips steps forward between songs and fills in the blanks or re-enacts his discovery of each Southern boy. And it’s the cololurful anecdotes that give clarity and composition to the entire evening.

Parker is phenomenal as Phillips, a brash man with a passion for rock ’n’ roll who dared to put his signature stamp on it.

The Edmonton actor is one of the most versatile in the city and Ryan creates a hustler, a survivor, who does what needs to be done to survive, but not without some regret. And even when the chips are down, he’s ready to gamble on the next set.

Million Dollar Quartet is more than a story about four superstars and a mentor leading troubled lives and complicated careers. It’s about a bunch of guys getting together and casually doing what they loved most – singing music from deep inside the soul that expresses all our moods from jubilation to despair. Not a bad way to spend an hour or two.