Peninsula Players Theatre, Wisconsin’s oldest professional theater and Door County’s theatrical icon, proudly announces the cast of “Million Dollar Quartet,” with book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux. This rock ‘n’ roll-laced musical chronicles a momentous day in music history when Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, participated in a freewheeling, after-hours jam session for the ages at the now legendary Sun Records. The Tony Award-winning musical has a three-week run starting July 31 through August 18. This electrifying rock ‘n’ roll musical is sponsored by Alibi Marina and Harbor Guest House with support from The Cordon Family Foundation.
The musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” which opened on Broadway in 2010, looks at the early careers, hopes and dreams of these four music pioneers and their mentor, Sam Phillips. With instruments in hand, the cast brings down the house with more than 20 celebrated classics such as “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Long Tall Sally,” “I Walk the Line,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Hound Dog,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and more.
“Million Dollar Quartet” transports audiences to the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, Sun Records Studio, in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 4, 1956. Rockabilly artist and songwriter Carl Perkins was in the studio to record a follow-up to his hit “Blue Suede Shoes.” Sun Records owner and producer Phillips brought his newest addition, the piano-pounding Jerry Lee Lewis, to play with Perkins. By 1956, Phillips had already launched Elvis Presley to stardom and labelmate Johnny Cash onto the County Hit Parade with “Hey Porter” and his number one hit, “I Walk the Line.”
Under Phillips’s leadership, Sun was a creative laboratory of gospel, blues, country and rockabilly. On December 4, Cash was sitting in on Perkins’ session, and Presley happened to stop by, as he was apt to do when in town. Per music lore as well as Perkins and Cash’s biographical accounts, the Perkins’ session stopped when Presley sat at the piano, and the future legends had an impromptu jam session. The following day, a reporter for The Memphis Press-Scimitar commented on the session and said, “That quartet could sell a million.” Suddenly, “Million Dollar Quartet” was coined.
Director Christopher Chase Carter and Music Director Malcolm Ruhl oversee the multi-talented cast of actors/singers/musicians – Aja Alcazar, Jake Busse, Andrés Enriquez, Jordan Golding, Ben Heppner, Sam Linda, Garrett Lutz and Eion Meldrum. Carter is the former artistic director of Mercury Theater Chicago, where he choreographed “Jersey Boys,” directed “Big River” and co-directed “Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grille.” Ruhl (“Murder for Two,” “Always…Patsy Cline”) served as music coordinator for the pre-Broadway production of “Million Dollar Quartet” at Chicago’s Apollo Theatre.
Busse, Golding, Heppner, Linda and Meldrum make their Peninsula Players Theatre debuts in “Million Dollar Quartet.” Golding, portraying guitar legend Carl Perkins, is a Chicago-based performer whose stage credits include “Once” and “The Band’s Visit” with Writers Theatre/TheatreSquared. Linda, cast as the live-wired Jerry Lee Lewis, performed in “Damn Yankees” at Marriott Theatre and “Fiddler on the Roof” with Lyric Opera. Meldrum, portraying baritone Johnny Cash, recently performed in “Hank Williams: Lost Highway” with Timber Lake Playhouse and “Bye Bye Birdie” at Riverbank Theatre. Bass playing Busse, cast as Brother Jay, has performed at Raven Theatre, Oil Lamp Theater and studied upright bass performance at Illinois State University. Heppner, who portrays drummer Fluke, has credits including “Grease” at Drury Lane Theater and “Annie” with Timber Lake Playhouse.
Alcazar, Enriquez and Lutz continue their season at Peninsula Players Theatre, where all three performed in the Midwest premiere of Paul Slade Smith’s “The Angel Next Door.” Alcazar, cast as Dyanne, Presley’s girlfriend, has performed in such musicals as “Ring of Fire” at Drury Lane Theater and “Merrily We Roll Along” with Porchlight Music Theatre. Enriquez, who portrays the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Sam Phillips, performed in Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” and Paramount Theatre’s production of “School of Rock.” Lutz, who will be portraying Elvis Presley, performed in “The Music Man” at the Goodman Theatre and “Cabaret” at Paramount Theatre.
The “Million Dollar Quartet” creative team includes two designers making their Peninsula Players Theatre debuts: Michaela Lochen, a Tennessee-based scenic designer and last season’s assistant prop shop supervisor, and Robert Kuhn, a Chicago-based costume designer. Guy Rhodes (“Dames at Sea,” “The Rainmaker”) returns as lighting designer and Joe Court (“A Rock Sails By,” “Write Me a Murder”) is the sound designer. Court was the sound engineer for the Chicago production of “Million Dollar Quartet” from 2008 until 2016.
The audience pavilion’s side panels, doors and vents will remain open throughout summer. Patrons should dress for the weather and be prepared for shifting temperatures and breezes off the bay. Peninsula Players Theatre is a smoke-free campus. Smoking is prohibited on the grounds at all times. Patrons are invited to arrive early and enjoy a pre-show beverage or snack at the Luna Bar or Canteen, which opens 90 minutes before the show.
“Million Dollar Quartet” performs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:30 p.m., except for Sunday, August 18 at 2:00 p.m. Individual, group and student tickets are available. To purchase tickets for groups of 15 or more, please phone the Box Office between 1:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at (920) 868-3287. The theater and its offices are closed on Mondays. For more information, visit www.peninsulaplayers.com.