Study Guide Table of Contents
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MUSIC BY DAVID BRYAN LYRICS BY DAVID BRYAN & JOE DIPIETRO BOOK BY JOE DIPIETRO STUDY GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS FAST FACTS 01 THE CHARACTERS 02 THE PLOT 05 HISTORY OF SHAW UNIVERSITY 06 TIMELINE: CIVIL RIGHTS + RALEIGH 07 AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES: RALEIGH 09 RACIAL ROOTS OF ROCK & ROLL 11 MEDIA & INFLUENCE 16 LOVING VS. VIRGINIA 22 CULTURAL APPROPRIATION VS APPRECIATION 24 Photo credit: Curtis Brown Photography MEMPHIS Study Guide FAST FACTS: MEMPHIS THE MUSICAL It was nominated for 8 Tony Awards Memphis opened on in 2010 and won 4: Broadway in October - Best Book of a Musical of 2009. - Best Original Score - Best Orchestrations - Best Musical The national tour The show debuted in ran on the Memphis, TN in West End 2011. The show in London toured the US from 2014 until 2013. to 2015. In 2011, Adam Pascal joined the Broadway cast in the role of In January & February Huey Calhoun. Pascal of 2012, Christopher is known for Jackson joined the originating roles in Broadway cast in the RENT and Aida. role of Delray. Jackson originated roles in both In the Heights and Hamilton. MEMPHIS Study Guide Page 01 THE CHARACTERS HUEY CALHOUN Young white man determined to bring "race music" into mainstream culture and break a segregated society's racial barriers. He is a cock-eyed optimist who impulsively acts upon his beliefs. Played by Colby Dezelick FELICIA FARRELL Young black singer at the Beale Street Club that dreams of taking her music beyond the local constraints of Memphis, Tennessee. She is passionate and tenacious. Played by Desireé Murphy DELRAY FARRELL Owner of the Beale Street Club and Felicia's overly protective older brother. He years to make his sister a national success. Played by Antoine L. Smith Character descriptions from http://allticketsinc.com//wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Memphis_StudyGuide.pdf MEMPHIS Study Guide Page 02 THE CHARACTERS GLADYS CALHOUN Huey's hard-working mother. She has great difficulty supporting Huey's personal and professional affiliations with the black community. Played by Elizabeth Ward Land MR. SIMMONS Owner of the WHDZ Memphis radio station and eventually, Huey's boss. While he is not comfortable with Huey's actions, his financial gains through Huey outweight his distaste. Played by David McClutchey GATOR The bartender at the Beale Street Club. He is very attentive, but does not speak. Played by Avery Smith BOBBY Beale Street Club frequenter that works in the day as a janitorfor Mr. Simmons' radio station. Played by Curtis Moore Character descriptions from http://allticketsinc.com//wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Memphis_StudyGuide.pdf MEMPHIS Study Guide Page 03 THE CHARACTERS BEALE STREET ENSEMBLE Melvin Gray Jr. Julia Harnett Adelyn Harris Chris J. Helton Collin Heyward Micah Jordan Tyler McKenzie Darian Moore Devin Price Alexia Sielo Karilyn Ashley Carlita Victoria Surratt MAIN STREET ENSEMBLE Jacob Burns Carly Grissom Gracie Phillips Ellen Pierce Sawyer Pollock Hannah Smith Evan Tylka Collin Yates MEMPHIS Study Guide Page 04 THE PLOT The story takes place in 1950s Memphis, Tennessee, where there is an underground rock & roll party being held at an African American club called Delray’s. Delray and his sister, Felicia, as well as the other African American patrons, are shocked when a white man named Huey Calhoun joins them at the club. Huey claims he is there because he has a love for the kind of music they are playing. Later, at his department store job, Huey takes a risk by playing a rock & roll record called “Scratch My Itch,” and even though the white customers seem to enjoy the music and record sales are up, Huey’s boss fires him for the stunt. Determined to land a DJ job and get Felicia on the radio, Huey begins applying at white radio stations. He takes another leap of faith when he hijacks a local DJ’s mic and plays an African American rock song, ““Everybody Wants to be Black on Saturday Night.” Mr. Simmons, the owner of the radio station, is about to throw Huey out when the phone lines light up by white teens calling in to request more songs like the one they just heard. Huey earns a DJ job on a two-week trial period basis, with the potential to go full-time if he does well. He continues to gain popularity as he improvises sales pitches for local radio sponsors and coins his catchphrase “Hockadoo!” along the way. Soon, he is a full-time DJ. Convinced she is destined for stardom, Huey soon brings in Felicia to the radio station and convinces her to sing live on air, which earns her popularity amongst listeners. As Huey and Felicia grow closer, Felicia’s brother, Delray, voices his concerns about the dangers an interracial couple in Memphis might face. However, their secret relationship continues as Huey becomes more and more successful with both white and African American teen listeners to the disapproval of some of their parents. Two years later, Huey proposes to Felicia, but she is hesitant given laws prohibiting interracial marriage in their state. As he convinces her to reconsider, the couple share a kiss, which is interrupted by a group of white men, who hold Huey down and beat up Felicia. Huey rushes the injured Felicia to the club, where Delray is furious that Huey would put his sister at risk. Some time later, Huey is set to debut his own variety television show, which will feature African American performers and dancers. Felicia has an audition in New York City with a talent agency that may also pick up Huey’s variety show, but he is hesitant to leave Memphis. At his audition, Huey is informed that his program will only be considered if his black performers are replaced with white ones. He refuses, and is confused when Felicia tells him she is still going ahead with plans to move to New York. In a desperate move, Huey kisses Felicia live on air. She is furious at him, and he is fired on the spot. The couple go their separate ways – Felicia to New York with Delray, Huey back to Memphis, now unemployed. Four years later, Huey still hosts a radio show, but this one is far less popular. Felicia, who is in the middle of a national tour and now engaged to another man, unexpectedly shows up at the station to ask Huey to join her at her show in Memphis that evening. He refuses, fearful that he has lost all of his popularity, although he is happy to see Felicia once more. That night, Huey surprises Felicia halfway through a number, joining her for a final performance onstage. MEMPHIS Study Guide Page 05 HISTORY OF SHAW UNIVERSITY National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Mary Anne Carter has announced that North Carolina Theatre has been selected to receive federal funding for our musical production of Memphis. This funding supports a collaboration with Shaw University that engages students and community in exploration of the power of social influencers in the promotion and proliferation of arts and music through mass communications. Shaw University, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the first historically Black institution of higher education in the South and among the oldest in the nation. The University was founded in 1865 by Henry Martin Tupper, a native of Monson, Massachusetts, a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War, and a graduate of Amherst College and Newton Theological Seminary. Shaw was originally founded as Raleigh Institute, a school designed to teach freedmen theology and biblical interpretation. The school’s name changed to Shaw Collegiate Institute in 1870 and five years later it adopted its present name, Shaw University. Shaw boasts many “firsts”: the first college in the nation to offer a four-year medical program, the first historically Black college in the nation to open its doors to women, and the first historically Black college in North Carolina to be granted an “A” rating by the State Department of Public Instruction. Dr. Paulette Dillard currently serves as the University's 18th President. In 1993, the University made courses in ethics and values central to the general education that all of its students receive in order to emphasize its commitment to the inculcation of high personal standards and citizenship. In 1997, research was conducted by the University to determine why Black World War II veterans were excluded from receiving the top military award. Ten soldiers were recommended to the Pentagon to receive the Medal of Honor as a result of this study, and ultimately seven of the candidates were awarded the prestigious medal. The mission of Shaw University is to advance knowledge, facilitate student learning and achievement, to enhance the spiritual and ethical values of its students, and to transform a diverse community of learners into future global leaders. The University currently enrolls more than 1,800 students and offers more than 30 degree programs, including accredited programs in athletic training, kinesiotherapy, social work, divinity, religious education, and teacher education. History via shawu.edu and blackpast.org MEMPHIS Study Guide Page 06 TIMELINE: CIVIL RIGHTS + RALEIGH 1868 The first reports of the Ku Klux Klan being present in North Carolina. From the General Negative Collection, State Archives of NC. 1933 As many as 2,500 African Americans gather for an NCAAP-sponsored event at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium to address inequality issues, specifically for teachers. FEBRUARY 10, 1958 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr delivers a speech in the auditorium of Broughton High School to an unsegregated crowd of approximately FEBRUARY 1, 1960 1,300 people (above). NATIONAL EVENT: The Greensboro Sit-In, a peaceful protest effort led by four African American college students in Greensboro, NC, gains national attention.