In trying to manage our money (and our lives) one area we knew we could cut down on was entertainment, but recently we splurged—if you can call it splurging—and availed ourselves of the discount the 5th Avenue Theater gives to educators and took our daughter to see Memphis. What a wonderful treat that I could consume again and again!This Joe DiPietro and David Bryan (Bon Jovi keyboardist and founding member) musical is loosely based on the life of Memphis DJ Dewy Phillips, one of the first white disc jockeys to play African American or “race” music for his white listeners around the same time that Elvis was being influenced by it. But Memphis is about more than the birth of rock ‘n roll.
This fast paced, energetic musical is about not only the birth of rock ‘n roll, but about the birth of hope and change. It is timely that it is being performed now. I got goose bumps listening to the beautiful voices of a wonderful cast sing about hope and change. Although all original music, it could well have been written in the 1950s. The costumes are accurate and the sets remarkable. It seemed like there were about 30 set changes, but they went so quickly and smoothly that you could have been watching a movie. The miking was perfect so you could actually understand the words the cast was saying and singing.
I cannot say enough good things about this musical and predict that eventually it will be one that high schools will perform with relish. If you can squeeze some live theater out of the budget or are an employee of a school take a trip to Memphis. You won’t be sorry.
