Melissa Etheridge Rocks Million Dollar Quartet Finale June 23 | Playbill

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News Melissa Etheridge Rocks Million Dollar Quartet Finale June 23 The cast of Broadway's Million Dollar Quartet gets a special on-stage visit from Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge June 23.
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Melissa Etheridge

Etheridge and the leading foursome are set to perform a classic rock song during the finale of the 8 PM performance at the Nederlander Theatre. Million Dollar Quartet uses songs by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins as its musical score. According to show representatives, the song that will feature Etheridge is not currently part of the production, but was made famous by one of the original quartet members.

Eddie Clendening, Lance Guest, Levi Kreis and Rob Lyons, who all appeared in the Chicago cast, re-create their work for Broadway audiences. Clendening plays Elvis Presley, Guest is Johnny Cash, Tony Award winner Kreis portrays Jerry Lee Lewis, and Lyons is Carl Perkins.

Eric Schaeffer staged the musical based on the real-life 1956 recording that the foursome made at Sun Records' studio in Memphis. Million Dollar Quartet has a book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux; the latter conceived and originally directed the musical. Million Dollar Quartet opened April 11 at the Nederlander Theatre following an acclaimed Chicago run, where the musical continues to play the Apollo Theater.

The production earned a Best Musical Tony nomination, as well as Best Book of a Musical and Best Featured Actor for Levi Kreis.

The Broadway cast also features Tony Award nominee Hunter Foster (Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown, The Producers) as music producer Sam Phillips, and Elizabeth Stanley (Cry-Baby, Company, Xanadu) as Dyanne, a woman who arrives at Sun Records with Elvis on the night of the recording session. "On Dec. 4, 1956," press notes state, "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. . . . Million Dollar Quartet captures the infectious spirit, freewheeling excitement and thrilling sounds of a 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."

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).

For more information visit MillionDollarQuartetLive.

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Melissa Etheridge
 
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