[NEohioPAL] Review of "Million Dollar Quartet" at PlayhouseSquare

[Bob Abelman via NEohioPAL]

'Million Dollar Quartet' offers a close encounter with musical genius 

 

Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the Cleveland Jewish News on 7/18/14

 

 

In museums across the country there are security strips on the floor that trigger an alarm when patrons get too close to famous paintings.  In the presence of great art, human nature dictates that we get as close as possible - to see what genius saw at the time of its creation, to be in that same small space that genius occupied, to share the rarified air that genius breathed.

 

There are no security strips on the edge of the Ohio Theatre stage in PlayhouseSquare, but there should be. 

 

On stage is the national tour of "Million Dollar Quartet," a musical that reenacts with ample creative license that storied Tuesday afternoon in 1956 when four rock 'n' roll legends - Johnny Cash (Scott Moreau), Jerry Lee Lewis (John Countryman), Carl Perkins (James Barry) and Elvis Presley (Tyler K. Hunter) - happened to gather at the Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee and engaged in an impromptu jam session for the ages.  

 

In bio-musicals such as this, it is not enough for actors to merely capture the musicians' look, depict their manner, and display their defining vocal qualities.  They need to tap their souls.  Anything less is merely impersonation.  Worse, it's imposture.  And the acid test is if the audience leans in, even for an extended moment, to get nearer to the stage and closer to the genius that made this music.

 

For more of this review, go to: http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/features/article_84443308-0868-11e4-bfc4-0019bb2963f4.html

 
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