They were four of the biggest names in rock and roll – brought together for one night only on an offchance meeting as they performed a series of tracks for Sun Records’ boss Sam Phillips.
Million Dollar Quartet, one of the new shows taking the West End by storm, tells the story of the evening Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis combined their talents with incredible results.
When the opportunity first arose to go and see the show, I was unsure if I would enjoy it - given that many of the songs are long before my time.
But I knew there was one person who would definitely be tapping his foot along with the rest of the audience – my father.
And, along that line, Million Dollar Quartet is opening the doors of the Noel Coward theatre for a special Father’s Day performance on 19th June.
However, despite my initial reservations, I soon found out that it’s not only fathers who will enjoy the show, but their children too.
Derek Hagen, who plays Johnny Cash in the show, explained that the prospect of bringing rock and roll music back was one of the major attractions in taking part in a show like Million Dollar Quartet.
He said: ‘What we liked about it when we first started was that the younger people were getting the chance to hear the music live, because obviously they had never had that opportunity before. So it’s kind of fresh and if you don’t know the songs you’re sitting there thinking, “Oh that’s great, I never knew that one”.’
And Michael Malarkey, who puts in an incredible performance as ‘the King’, added: ‘And for kids especially, it gives them the chance to get to know the early icons of rock and roll and to understand where they came from and how difficult their upbringing was, to get to the top.’
The attraction of a show like Million Dollar Quartet isn’t just to do with the songs performed, however, but the astonishing performances of the four key actors: Hagen and Malarkey as well as Oliver Seymour-Marsh as Carl Perkins and Ben Goddard as Jerry Lee Lewis.
And the one thing that is clear with the four lead roles is that the men playing the characters are having the time of their lives.
And while the four main actors are unequivocally note perfect when it comes to singing the famous tracks including Walk The Line and Hounddog, they all bring their own take to the role – making it a fresh interpretation of the beginning of rock and roll music.
Mention must also be made of Bill Ward as Sun Records’ chief Sam Phillips, and Francesca Jackson as Elvis’ love interest Dyanne, as well as Gez Gerrard on the double bass and Adam Riley on the drums.
But getting into the roles, learning the vocal tricks of the stars and the personality traits wasn’t an easy job, as Malarkey explained.
‘I didn’t know much about Elvis beforehand. I knew the hits and stuff but that’s about it – I was actually originally auditioning for Cash’ he said. ‘So I basically just sat down with the DVDs and watched all of them, especially for the moves but also just for the way he carried his body, it was a real specific kind of thing like a marionette or something. And he had a real specific way of moving so that was a difficult thing to get as well.’
And the one thing that is clear with the four lead roles is that the men playing the characters are having the time of their lives.
Goddard explained: ‘I think most of us grew up listening to, and in and around rock and roll music anyway so it’s really a dream come true to take on a role like this. There’s nothing better than being in a band, and being actors as well – this is a combination of all of our favourite things.
‘It’s a lot of fun. And also it’s great because rock and roll music is rarely heard at the right level. I mean, Blue Suede Shoes from 1956 was amazing but it’s very rare that you hear that sound, and hear it being played big and loud and proud like we do it, so it’s great to reintroduce people to that original kind of sound.’
Being that I was at the show ahead of Father’s Day, my final question was of course related to that as I asked the boys, ‘If you could have any celebrity as your dad, who would it be?’
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