Press release from HART:
One of Rock ‘n Roll’s legendary events is being recreated on the HART stage in Waynesville beginning May 18. On December 4, 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis Tennessee, four of the century’s immortals, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis engaged in an impromptu jam session. Record producer Sam Phillips recorded the event, which was never to be repeated.
A musical based on the jam session opened on Broadway in 2010 to rave reviews and Tony nods and now HART is bringing it to its stage for a four week run beginning May 18. Director, Steve Lloyd knew when he picked the show for the season that it would be impossible to cast locally, so ads were placed in theater industry trades and after reviewing scores of video auditions four actors were cast with the musical skills to recreate the “Million Dollar Quartet.” Actor/Pianist Edgar Cardoso was brought in from Los Angeles to tackle the role of Jerry Lee Lewis, Actor/Guitarist Joshua Rubenstein was brought in from New York to play Carl Perkins, Actor/Guitarist Jackson Whiting from Atlanta is Elvis, and area Actor/Musician Dominic Aquilino is Johnny Cash. They are joined by Clara Burrus, Dave Bruce on Drums, Raymond Mathews on Bass, and Jeff Messer as Sam Phillips.
This is HART’s first all professional cast and a big risk for the theater but the show has a reputation of inspiring dancing in the aisles. The focus is on four of the music industry’s most exciting performers at the start of their careers, and it’s all about the music.
“Million Dollar Quartet” has performances on May 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31, June 1, 2, 7, 8 & 9 at 7:30pm and May 20, 27, June 3 & 10 at 2pm. The theater has special discounted tickets for the performances on Thursday May 24. Harmons’ Den Bistro at HART is also open before all performances with a new menu and features karaoke on Saturday night after the performance. To make reservations for the show and the Bistro call (828) 456-6322 or go online to www.harttheatre.org. HART is located at 250 Pigeon St. in Waynesville.
Million Dollar Quartet opens at HART, May 18
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