“Memphis,” which won the 2010 Tony Award for best new musical, describes the racially tense moment in time when Beale Street blues were transformed into rock and roll.
A painful reminder of the violence and bloodshed of the South’s Jim Crow past, “Memphis,” which plays Atlanta’s Fox Theatre through Sunday, is an account of the double-edged audacity of an energetic Memphis DJ named Huey Calhoun (the wonderful Bryan Fenkart). When Huey insists on playing black music on the radio, he is catapulted to stardom. But when he declares his love for a beautiful African-American singer named Felicia (the glorious Felicia Boswell), his rhapsody turns into rejection and ruin.
“Memphis” — which features a book by Joe DiPietro, music by David Bryan and lyrics by both — is that rare musical-theater commodity that functions as both a stinging political commentary and balm for the soul. The characters carry scars and bruises. They are subjected to attacks and insults. But at the end, they are transformed by the music.
As directed by Christopher Ashley and performed by a first-rate cast, “Memphis” is a solid and enjoyable crowd-pleaser. As Huey might shout, "Hockadoo!" It's a rocking social satire with heart. If Huey’s passions come off as a little cartoonish, his naive charm is hard to resist, his moral integrity unassailable. He won’t back down — to his racist mother (Julie Johnson), old-school radio-station owner Mr. Simmons (William Parry), Felicia’s protective brother Delray (Quentin Earl Darrington) or the slick New York executive who refuses to let him put black dancers on TV.
Boswell and Fenkart are both excellent — she as the regal figure who will soar to greatness and he as the goofy Tennessee boy who is as blinded by love as any Shakespearean character. (The scene in which Huey hijacks the radio station is comedy gold). Johnson is spot-on as the hard-working Southern mama who is blatantly prejudiced, but ultimately redeemed. (She’s a knockout belter, too.) Parry’s years of stage experience show off in his superb acting, and Darrington makes for a powerful and handsome presence. (He also has fun with some of the surprisingly absurd lyrics.) As Gator, a character whose past is too horrific to speak about, Rhett George is very good, too, more natural and not quite as giddy as his counterpart I saw on Broadway.
Designers David Gallo (sets and projections), Howell Binkley (lighting) and Shawn Sagady (projections) smartly blend sophisticated technology with minimal scenery to creating the smoky clubs and mean streets of Memphis. Costume designer Paul Tazewell excels at approximating an era when men wore suits and women wore gloves and hats. Very nice.
While Elvis and Sun Records never appear in this show, the notion that whites appropriated gospel and blues and turned it into rock is everywhere. As Huey sings, “Everybody Wants to Be Black on a Saturday Night.” Or as Felicia says so aptly: “Rock and roll is just Negro blues speeded up.”
Much to its credit, “Memphis” takes off the rose-colored glasses to offer a history of the birth of rock that is a sobering as it is triumphant. Biracial couples may be commonplace today, but in the ’50s, miscegenation was stigmatized and often against the law. It’s a tribute to “Memphis” that it depicts this complex history with a truth that can be a rarity in musical theater. It is a delightful and moving look at the role of race in our musical heritage.
Theater review
“Memphis”
Grade: B+
8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 6:30 p.m. Sunday. 2 p.m. Saturday. 1 p.m. Sunday. Through Sunday. $25-$75. Broadway in Atlanta, Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 800-982-2787; ticketmaster.com
Bottom line: “Hockadoo!” It's a rocking social satire.
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