A jam session like no other

★★★★

A crowd-pleaser from start to finish, Million Dollar Quartet at the Marriott Theatre had the packed house rock'n to the immortalsongsof Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley as the cast recreated that magical jam session that took place at Sun Records in Memphison December 4, 1956.

The amazing day (and night) session yielded nearly four dozen musical tracks of which the no-intermission show brings to life almost two dozen including: “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Walk the Line,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” and “Hound Dog.” 

Inspired by a true story, this special tribute is directed by James Moye, joined by Jeff Award-winning Musical Director Ryan T. Nelson stars Christopher J. Essex as “Johnny Cash,” Rustin Cole Sailors as “Elvis Presley,”Shaun Whitley as “Carl Perkins,” Nat Zegree as “Jerry Lee Lewis,” David Folsom as “Sam Philips,” Laura Savage as “Dyanne,”Zach Lentino as “Brother Jay,” and Kieran McCabe as “Fluke.”

The production features set design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec, costume design by Theresa Ham, lighting design by Jesse Klug, sound design by Robert E. Gilmartin, properties design by Sally Zack, hair and makeup design by Miguel A. Armstrong and musical supervision by Patti Garwood.

The Marriott Theatre production is filled with high-energy performances throughout. Viewing the performance in Marriott's theater-in the round brings an intimacy to the production that gives the audience the feeling that they are in the room at Sun Records eavesdropping on these music legends.

The jam session was first immortalized in Chicago in 2008 where it had a limited run at the Goodman Theatre before moving to Chicago's Apollo Theater on October 31, 2008.It celebrated its 2500th performance on September 20, 2014 closing on January 17, 2016. It is ranked as the third-longest running show, in terms of calendar span, in Chicago Theatre history.