A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing
Memphis at
The Kennedy Center thanks to a very good friend (thanks Chris!) who I interned there with last Spring. Fortunately, he found employment there after the internship term ended, so he still reaps the benefits of free tickets from time to time. Lucky for me, I got one of those tickets!
Now I have been curious about this show for quite some time, but never really had the means, or the strong desire to put out the effort and money to go see it, so I am glad I got to see it for free. That being said, it was not my favorite musical of all time (that crown does still go to
West Side Story), nor was it my least favorite. It does not fall somewhere in the middle either, it is closer to the top of the list. The performers were vocally phenomenal and the choreography was difficult and interesting enough to make the show much more exciting. However, the actual music and the book left a bit to be desired. The performers cannot be criticized for something like that so those reviews will come as a separate thought.
In the grand scheme of new musicals that have been written in recent years, an edgier, almost more mainstream sound has come about. This is a sound that a lot of people have begun to attach to, and
Memphis tries it's best to match that sound, but unfortunately falls short. The music was written by
David Bryan, one of the Grammy Award-winning founding members of Bon Jovi. Once you read his bio and realize this, the way the music sounds completely makes sense. Although this gives the show the edgier sound that a lot of new musicals have, it does not really pair well with the rhythm and blues inspired song line-up. Not to mention, some of the songs bring forth a lot of musical theatre cliches which can certainly leave a bad taste in your mouth if you are not expecting that. I will admit, part of the issue I am having is the fact that I really just did not want to hear a line-up of songs that sounded like showtunes. Give me the cast recording on a day where all I want to do is listen to
Guys and Dolls or
Little Women and my opinion might be different. Bryan did share credit for lyrics with
Joe DiPietro, who also wrote the book for the show. The song "She's My Sister" was the straw that broke the camels back in this production and really left me going "Oh no, did they really?" In musical theatre, there are often times where, what could be dialogue, is exchanged in song and it gives said dialogue a kitschy, rhyme-y, cutesy vibe. "Marry The Man Today" from
Guys and Dolls is one example that comes to mind. That is exactly what happened in this song, but it just did not work because too much was happening at one time. Bryan was trying to give it a rock edge, DiPietro was trying keep the drama building, the lyrics were choppy and accentuated to try to add to both of the above... it was not good. A simple solution would have been to just leave this part of the story as dialogue. It would have been so much better! Music aside, the book was structured too similarly to
Hairspray, based on the whole race issue and how the characters worked together to resolve the issue. Since the story is actually written about a real person, Dewey Phillips, the book could have revolved more around "Huey", the show's male protagonist. Making it autobiographical in how Dewey lived his life to try to resolve this issue and all the struggles that
he faced would have made the play's structure more original.
Aside from the actual play itself, the performances given by the actors on the stage are what truly made the show worth seeing.
Bryan Fenkart gave a thoroughly entertaining and unique portrayal to his character, Huey. He had this amazing soulful voice with a charming Tennessee twang and still paired it with a dim-witted character both in and out of song. It is extremely evident that he gave every mannerism, word, thought and action a lot of planning and thought to make his character seamless and multi-faceted while still keeping Huey seemingly one-dimensional to the audience. Fenkart played opposite
Felicia Boswell, who plays the vivacious and soulful club singer, Felicia, that wants nothing more than to get out of Memphis and sing. She was vocally outstanding, easily the best singer in the cast. I do wish that she had been a stronger actor, especially in some of the more dramatic scenes in the play, but she did an adequate job portraying Felicia's struggle.
Rhett George played Delray, Felicia's over-protective older brother who would do anything in his power to keep Huey away from her... at first. George did a great job with portraying that over-protective older brother who does not give a damn about making it known that nobody is good enough for his little sister without being over-powering and yelling all the time. A lot of actors mistake volume for intensity and this was not something he struggled with. Clearly a trained vocalist, his voice could have used a little more soul to smooth over the great baritone quality. The ensemble was truly one of the best parts of the show. It was very easy for them to carry off the bigger dance numbers while keeping their energy up and maintaining a strong vocal quality. There was one minor flub at the end of one of the songs somewhere in the second act, something where the chord just did not work out, but I am not sure if that was the ensemble of the orchestra. Aside from that, they get an A+.
All around, the show was not bad. I did see it early in their run at The Kennedy Center, so I am sure it has gotten better since then, and it really is worth it just to hear the voices and watch the choreography. The show runs for one more week with ticket prices ranging from $45 to $115 with plenty of availability. You can buy your tickets on-line and pick them up at the box office, or call 800-444-1324. Enjoy the show!
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