Memphis/ Maye

The anticipation for Memphis, a new musical with an original book, was palpable. As far as Broadway musicals go, it's been a long season of revivals. But, despite its entertaining, energetic appeal, Memphis sounds like something you've heard before. Take a bit of Hairspray (crossing the race divide in music) and sprinkle with Dreamgirls (black showgirl on the rise) and you get the genre. The music by Bon Jovi's David Bryan and Joe DiPietro evokes period rock, blues and gospel, managing to miss the real Memphis, especially its sound in the '50's, aching with themes of interracial romance and cultural change. Martin Luther King Jr. died in Memphis. Memphis was Stax Records' home. Failing to utilize the unique Memphis sound is a big mistake, a failed opportunity that makes you wonder why the talents who put together this show chose this historically rich city at all. Still, Chad Kimball winningly plays Huey Calhoun, a white boy who stumbles into a Beale Street black saloon one night lured by the sound. There he meets the love of his life, a fired up singer named Felicia (Montego Glover), her brother Delray (J. Bernard Calloway) who owns the joint, and a bartender Gator (Derrick Baskin), silent after seeing his father lynched. After following his passion for this music, transgressive for the time, Huey becomes the number one DJ at the radio station where he befriends James Monroe Iglehart as Bobby, a janitor whose dancing is especially good, defying his robust figure. Over all, Sergio Trujillo's choreography soars. Huey's mother (Cass Morgan) is not too keen on her son's fixation with the black subculture but by Act II, she's joined their church. On opening night, the legendary ducks from Memphis's Peabody Hotel were imported for publicity, providing a nod to that great American city. To know its authentic musical history, though, see D. A. Pennebaker's documentary, Only the Strong Survive: Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla, now that's Memphis.

And, this past weekend Marilyn Maye wrapped up an eleven-night reprise of her homage to Johnny Mercer at the Metropolitan Room. Front row center in this intimate club sat her regulars, the guys who attended every performance for this sharp 81 year old whose energy seems as unstoppable as her voice. Scattered elsewhere were Frank Langella, Tyne Daly, Phyllis Newman and Michael Feinstein. If you want to talk about authentic saloon singing, it was right here

Regina Weinreich

Graphic Design: Salpeter Ventura

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