Songs, drama flow naturally in ‘Quartet'


Watching “Million Dollar Quartet” at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, I found myself asking an obvious question: Why wasn't this musical made years ago? It debuted in 2007 and has played London and Broadway, but music fans would have eaten it up long before then.

“Million Dollar Quartet” is based on the most famous accidental recording session in music history. On Dec. 4, 1956, rockabilly guitarist-singer Carl Perkins came to Sun Records in Memphis to lay down a few tracks. Sam Phillips, the renowned star-maker who founded the scrappy studio, had invited an unproven hotshot named Jerry Lee Lewis to add a few fiery piano licks to the session.

During the afternoon, two men dropped by who owed their careers to Phillips: Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.

Presley was no longer with Sun; Phillips had sold his contract to RCA for $40,000 in order to save his struggling studio. Cash was at the end of his Sun contract, and Phillips had a new three-year deal tucked into his breast pocket. But Cash had just signed with Columbia, though he hadn't yet broken the news to Phillips.

What happened next is the stuff of myth. The four men jammed for hours, recording a raft of blues, gospel, bluegrass and country tunes. Colin Escott, co-creator of the play, and Floyd Mutrux, who helped write the script and directs the show, took many liberties.

They compressed about 18 months of musical history into one busy recording session, laying bare rivalries among the men and details of contract negotiations that provide a succinct look at the contrasting careers of four music legends.

And most of the 22 songs in the packed score weren't recorded on that fateful day. The show's creators wisely decided to include the hits that these stars made famous: “Blue Suede Shoes,” “That's All Right,” “I Walk the Line,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Hound Dog.”

The plot is straightforward and presentational, much like another jukebox musical about Golden Age legends, “Jersey Boys.”

All the performers do credible though not slavish imitations of the superstars. Derek Keeling has Cash's rumbling baritone sound, and Cody Slaughter has perfected Elvis' swivel-hipped moves.

They're all credible instrumentalists as well. Martin Kaye nails Lewis' machine-gun staccato sound on the piano, and Lee Ferris, an excellent guitarist, captures Perkins' celebrated, freewheeling style.

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