HOWDY, BROADWAY FANS!!! New York’s MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET is only 28 DAYS till The 95th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We have more toe-tapping performances coming your way on our TOP 30 BROADWAY AT MACY’S COUNTDOWN. Truy an exciting day to ring in the return of the holiday season and celebrate the return of Broadway. Here comes another great Broadway performance?
At # 28 on our countdown, we take a trip to a notable HONKY TONK town in Tennessee in the 1950’s during a time of segregation and the birth of Rock N’ Roll. There, we meet a young Caucasian White DJ who attempts to get an Black nightclub singer on the radio. Slowly, they fall into a forbidden interracial romance that leads them into dangerous situations. Welcome to that town that is….. Memphis. The show features a score by Bon Jovi keyboard player David Bryan along with additional lyrics and a book by Joe DiPietro.
From the 2011 CBS telecast, here Tony nominated Broadway rock star Adam Pascal as “Huey Calhoun” and the cast bringing that rock n’ roll vibe to a downtown park in lower Manhattan. Here they are performing the fan favorite RADIO.
MEMPHIS originally was developed during the 2003-2004 season at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts and TheaterWorks in Mountain View, California. It had it’s official world premiere production in 2008 at La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California and then later played The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington in 2009.
Following the success of those world premiere productions, MEMPHIS officially arrived on Broadway in 2009 playing the Shubert Theatre where it ran for a total of 30 previews and 1,165 regular performances. Under the direction of Tony winner Christopher Ashley and choreographed by Tony winner Sergio Trujillo, the cast was led by…..
Tony nominee Chad Kimball (later Adam Pascal) as “Huey Calhoun”,
Tony nominee Montego Glover as “Felicia Farrall”,
J Bernard Calloway (later Christopher Jackson) as “Delray”,
Tony nominee Derrick Baskin as “Gator”,
Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart as “Bobby”,
Cass Morgan (later Nancy Opel) as “Mama Gladys Calhoun”,
and
Tony winner Michael McGrath (later John Jellison) as “Mr. Simmons”.
The show went on to receive 8 Tony Awards nominations in 2010 winning 4 including BEST MUSICAL and BEST SCORE.
During its run in the Big Apple, the show was also captured on film released in Movie Theaters. The filmed proshot is now available on BOTH DVD and digital download including BroadwayHD. It stars the entire original cast live from the stage of the Shubert Theatre.
Following the success of Broadway, MEMPHIS went on to become a worldwide hit across America, in London’s West End, Australia, and more. It’s currently also being done in High Schools and Regional Theaters everywhere.
Doesn’t this musical make you want to yell HOCKADOO?!!!!!!
How FANTASTICAL is this show?!!
