Million Dollar Quartet announces cast

Chicago production of Million Dollar Quartet

Casting has been announced for the upcoming Broadway premiere of Million Dollar Quartet, opening at the Nederlander Theatre on 11 April 2010, following previews from 13 Mar.

The cast will feature the original “quartet” from the Chicago company. Eddie Clendening, Lance Guest, Levi Kreis and Rob Lyons will each be making their Broadway debuts in Million Dollar Quartet. They will be joined by Elizabeth Stanley (Cry-Baby) and Tony Award nominee Hunter Foster (Little Shop of Horrors).

Clendening will play ‘Elvis Presley,’ Guest will reprise his portrayal of ‘Johnny Cash,’ Kreis will play ‘Jerry Lee Lewis’ for which he received a Jeff Award nomination, and Lyons will play ‘Carl Perkins.’

These four actor/musicians have been playing to packed houses at the Apollo Theatre in Chicago since 2008. Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune said, “These actors give virtuosic performances, but they’re also thrilling musicians,” and Hedy Weiss of The Chicago Sun-Times called Million Dollar Quartet, “a musically dazzling, rhythmically propulsive, rollicking 90-minute fantasia performed with rip-roaring virtuosity by these sensational four.”

Foster will play legendary music producer ‘Sam Phillips’ in Million Dollar Quartet. Foster received a Tony nomination for the Broadway revival of 'Little Shop of Horrors.' Other Broadway credits include 'Urinetown,' 'The Producers,' 'Footloose,' 'King David,' 'Grease' and 'Les Misérables .'

Stanley will play ‘Dyanne’ a woman who arrives at Sun Records with Elvis on the night of the recording session. Stanley is currently starring in the national touring production of 'Xanadu' and most recently appeared on Broadway in 'Cry-Baby' and the Tony winning revival of 'Company' directed by John Doyle.

On December 4, 1956, an auspicious twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together. The place was Sun Records’ storefront studio in Memphis. The man who made it happen was Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ’n’ Roll,” who discovered them all. The four legends-to-be united for the only time in their careers for an impromptu recording that has come to be known as one of the greatest rock jam sessions of all time.

The show is about the singular moment when four of the music industry’s most extraordinary talents, all in their creative prime, came together for one of the most memorable nights in music history.

Million Dollar Quartet features a treasure trove of the greatest rock ’n’ roll, gospel, R&B and country hits from these music legends, including such iconic songs as 'Blue Suede Shoes,' 'Fever,' 'Sixteen Tons,' 'Who Do You Love?,' 'Great Balls of Fire,' 'Riders in the Sky,' 'I Walk the Line,' 'Folsom Prison Blues,' and 'Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”

Million Dollar Quartet is directed by Eric Schaeffer, features a book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, and was originally directed and conceived by Mutrux.

The design team for Broadway includes: Derek McLane (scenic design), Howell Binkley (lighting design), Jane Greenwood (costume design), Kai Harada (sound design) and Chuck Mead (musical arrangements and supervision).

The musical is produced by Relevant Theatricals, John Cossette Productions, Northern Lights Inc., Broadway Across America, and James L. Nederlander.