Yuletide treat: Marriott Theatre kicks off holidays with high-voltage ‘Million Dollar Quartet Christmas’
Marriott Theatre ushers in the holidays with its rockin’ revival of “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas,” the sequel to the wildly popular jukebox musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” a fictionalized account of the Dec. 4, 1956, impromptu jam session at Sun Records where rock ’n’ roll pioneers Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley played together for the first and last time.
This Yuletide follow-up commences where the original “Million Dollar Quartet” concludes: with the cast re-creating George B. Pierce’s famous photograph commemorating a landmark moment in rock ’n’ roll history. A camera flash at the top of the show reveals Cash (Michael D. Potter), Lewis (JP Coletta), Perkins (Trevor Lindley Craft), Presley (Colton Sims) and Presley’s girlfriend Dyanne (an assured Teah Kiang Mirabelli) gathered around the piano at the famed Memphis, Tennessee, recording studio.
Over the ensuing 90 minutes, director Scott Weinstein’s accomplished ensemble of mostly “Million Dollar Quartet” veterans play holiday songs (with a few secular exceptions) ranging from traditional carols to Christmas rock ’n’ roll classics.
Bass player Brother Jay Perkins (Cody Siragusa) and drummer W.S. “Fluke” Holland make up the rhythm section while Mirabelli’s Dyanne sings backup (sometimes lead) and narrates. Presiding over the Yuletide jam session is visionary producer and Sun Records founder Sam Phillips (Ross Griffin), who offers intermittent advice and encouragement to his protégés.
Like its predecessor, “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas” unfolds as a succession of high-energy performances punctuated by banter both breezy and barbed. Cash, Lewis, Perkins and Presley tease each other, air grievances, and worry about money and their careers. Each recalls a hardscrabble Christmas from his youth; each contemplates an uncertain future where having a hit record comes with no guarantee of another.
Colin Escott’s lackluster book lacks the emotion and wit that underscores the original “Million Dollar Quartet.” But folks don’t go to a show like this for the dialogue. They go to experience the unbridled energy of early rock ’n’ roll supplied by Weinstein’s kinetic staging and his exuberant cast, who sustain it from the opening notes of the swampy, bluesy “Santa Claus is Back in Town” to the insistent “Cotton Top” (one of several numbers showcasing the terrific Craft) to the rafter-shaking finale, “Run, Rudolph Run.” That romp concluded a five-song encore that brought the Lincolnshire theater’s audience to its feet.
There were a few pitch glitches on opening night, but the close harmonies in “Silent Night” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” were lovely. And overall, the performances were spot-on — from Coletta’s boldly self-confident Lewis and Potter’s stoical Cash to Sims’ uncertain Presley, who worries about his next hit and his upcoming Army stint, and the aforementioned Craft, whose prickly performance suggests Perkins’ lingering resentment over Presley unintentionally co-opting the guitarist’s “Blue Suede Shoes.”
Fans of the original “MDQ” will recognize some of the crowd-pleasing bits. I won’t spoil them here, but rest assured, they delight every season of the year.
