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Friday, Nov 20, 2009
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Million Dollar Quartet: Rockabilly revue features solid performances |
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| Million Dollar Quartet: Rockabilly revue features solid performances | ||
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer Million Dollar Quartet By Colin Escott, Floyd Mutrux and Chuck Mead Directed by Floyd Mutrux and Matt Walker Village Theatre Now through October 28, 2007 Issaquah November 2 to 18, 2007 Everett Almost more of a revue than a musical, Million Dollar Quartet features some of the best rockabilly musicians. Four remarkable performances by Lance Guest as Johnny Cash, Levi Kreis as Jerry Lee Lewis, Rob Lyons as Carl Perkins and Dane Stokinger as Elvis Presley, are as good as it gets, as they sing and play all their own instruments on stage. They are backed up by Corey Kaiser on bass and James Reif on drums, creating a seamless musical experience of the earliest days of these great performers. The date is December 4, 1956, near Christmas, as these former and current Sun Records musicians visit with their mentor, Sam Phillips (Matt Wolfe). It was a real event, and they apparently did record a number of songs together, off the cuff. Not clear is if Elvis' girlfriend, Dyanne, played by the lovely Jessica Skerritt, actually sang with them, as she does in this production. The list of songs covers all of their early hits and gives you a history of what they were doing before Sam Phillips found them and launch their recording careers. The production values are all solid, with a nice, cluttered set by Scott Fyfe, exciting concert-style lighting by Alex Berry and great musical direction by Chuck Mead. The sound technician had the volume up kind of high at the beginning of the show I saw, but thankfully, it turned down a notch as the show went on. It's a joy to watch such talented musicians, performing classic hits, but if one could be said to stand out among the standouts, Levi Kreis is an amazing pianoman. His exuberance is unstoppable. He has apparently injured himself, after doing a stunt of jumping over the piano, so he's not performing that stunt anymore. I don't think we really need him to hurt himself for our entertainment! He's just as fun without it. If the 50s and Presley, Lewis, Cash and Perkins are your kind of music, then don't miss it. For more information, go to www.villagetheatre.org or call 425-392-2202. To comment on the review, write sgncritic@gmail.com. |
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