BOOK BY COLIN ESCOTT AND FLOYD MUTRUX ORIGINAL CONCEPT AND DIRECTION BY FLOYD MUTRUX - Celebrating 20 Years - STEAMBOAT MINNEHAHA in Excelsior, MN ENROLLING NOW for 2016 - 2017 24 months through 8th grade Weekends and Holidays plus Special Cruises through October 2nd FOR TICKET INFO AND SCHEDULE GO TO: www.oursaviorschool.org www.SteamboatMinnehaha.org 952-474-5181 OUR SAVIOR SCHOOL An individualized musical experience from some of the Twin Cities’ most dedicated educators. Private Lessons 301 County Road 19 • Excelsior, MN Group Lessons Offering lessons in Classes • PIANO • GUITAR • UKULELE • VIOLIN • VIOLA • Ensembles CELLO • STRING BASS • VOICE • OBOE • CLARINET Seminars • FLUTE • BASSOON • RECORDER • SAXOPHONE • TRUMPET • TROMBONE • TUBA • HARP Performance Summer Theatre Camp Open Enrollment Sign up at www.mcaom.org or call 952.474.8893 OLD LOG THEATRE 2016 CHILDREN'S SHOWS A new adaptation of the beloved Rudyard Kipling’s he ungle ook T JUNEJ 21 – AUGUST 12,B 2016 Tuesday – Saturday Matinees A story of a young boy lost in the jungles of India, raised by a pack of wolves, befriended by the lovable Baloo and protected by the noble black panther Bagheera. These loving animals accept and raise the human child as one of their own, but not all is peaceful in the Jungle. Shere Kahn, the tiger, has vowed to destroy Mowgli and be rid of PRODUCED BY EXCELSIOR ENTERTAINMENT humans forever. THE RELUCTANT DRAGON NOVEMBER 22 – DECEMBER 31, 2016 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday Matinee In this beloved classic story, a young boy befriends a poetry-loving dragon living in the hills above his home. When the town-folk send for St. George to slay the dragon, the boy needs to come up with a clever plan to save his friend and convince the townsfolk to PRODUCED BY EXCELSIOR ENTERTAINMENT accept him. TICKETS + INFORMATION: 952.474.5951 or OLDLOG.COM GROUP SALES: KAREN 952.474.4289 5 Star Agent ~ Zillow Jesse Godzala. The Chanhassen REALTOR who does more, to get you more. If you’re buying or selling in the Chanhassen area, you won’t find a bigger go-getter than Jesse Godzala. More money for your home with Jesse’s proven track record. No locked-in contracts. No long waits for communication. JG Massive marketing program Jesse Godzala to sell your home. Reviewed. Respected. Free home inspection. Referred. Free childcare on closing book by COLIN ESCOTT AND FLOYD MUTRUX Land the role. and moving day. midwestvocalacademy.net original concept and direction by FLOYD MUTRUX 952.220.1629 [email protected] 612-293-8057 inspired by ChanhassenEdina.com ELVIS PRESLEY, JOHNNY CASH, JERRY LEE LEWIS & CARL PERKINS directed by R. KENT KNUTSON 4 MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, the musical THE OLD LOG THEATRE PRESENTS book by COLIN ESCOTT AND FLOYD MUTRUX original concept and direction by FLOYD MUTRUX inspired by ELVIS PRESLEY, JOHNNY CASH, JERRY LEE LEWIS & CARL PERKINS directed by R. KENT KNUTSON ARTISTIC STAFF music director KYLE PICHA scenic & lighting designer ERIK PAULSON stage manager AARON P. WHEELER* costume designer SARA WILCOX sound designer JEFF GEISLER choreographer DEB KNUTSON dialect coach KEELY WOLTER hair stylist STEFANIE VILASECA *Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. DURING THIS PERFORMANCE, PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND PAGERS. VIDEO, DIGITAL, STILL AND OTHER PHOTOGRAPHY ARE PROHIBITED BY COPYRIGHT AND ARE VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL LAW Developed and produced at Village Theatre, Issaquah, Washington Robb Hunt, Producer – Steve Tomkins, Artistic Director Originally presented by Seaside Music Theater Tippan Davidson, Producer – Lester Malizia, Artistic Director Million Dollar Quartet is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials are supplied by THEATRICAL RIGHTS WORLDWIDE (TRW) 570 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10018 Phone: (866) 378-9758 www.theatricalrights.com NOTES DIRECTOR’S NOTES When I first started to read the script forMillion Dollar Quartet I must admit it was with some hesitation. I had not seen the Broadway show and although I knew the artists, I did not know the approach this Juke Box musical would take. Often plays about biographical events get bogged down in the chronology and history or become simply a list of popular songs used to rekindle memories. Would they forget the importance of this time period as it refers to our national identity: race, religion, fame, and the big business of having fun? After reading this work I was thrilled to see that that was not the case. Here is a story of four singers who on December 4, 1956 got together for a jam session and in so doing, started a movement that would change popular culture. Million Dollar Quartet does not just give us the biographies of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, but introduces us to them as young men from humble beginnings filled with hopes, aspirations and bigger than life dreams. Artists with stories to tell through their music and music they present in a way that demands we join in and celebrate the magic and fun of that night. It introduces us to a producer, Sam Phillips who out of a tiny converted auto garage in Memphis, Tennessee, built Sun Records. A man who, against the norms of that time, brought together voices black and white to produce a singular sound, a sound never before heard. That sound was Rock ‘n’ Roll and this is the story of that night. Enjoy! – KENT KNUTSON, director BEHIND THE SCENES... Million Dollar Quartet celebrates four unforgettable musicians and their producer. These men were pioneers of the rock & roll music style, a genre that still influences musical artists today. The instruments they played were a huge part of their sound and aura. For this production, we wanted to replicate this musical era as best we could. Tons of fun research was then done to insure we get it right! I wanted to share a little of that with you. Sun Studio artists mostly played guitars from the companies Gibson and Martin. Gibson is out of Nashville, Tennessee and Martin is out of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that our Carl Perkins plays is a reissue of the exact guitar he played on his recording of “Blue Suede Shoes.” Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash played Dreadnought acoustic guitars from Martin. The guitar our Elvis strums is the exact model “The King” used in the early and mid-1950s. We found a beautiful black matte Dreadnought for our “Man in Black” to play. Local music stores, Groth Music and Minnetonka Music, were invaluable resources for this production and almost all the equipment you see on stage came from their stores. We hope this production transports you directly into their little recording studio in Memphis. Banging on the vintage piano, that’s actually form the 1950s, certainly takes me there. My colleagues and I at the Old Log are thrilled to recreate this prolific moment in music history for you. We’re also delighted that the show you’re seeing is authentic and specific. That part makes me smile every day. – ERIC MORRIS (Jerry Lee Lewis) 6 MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, the musical SCENE + CAST CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE Carl Perkins ......................................................................MATT TATONE Johnny Cash ...................................................................... ERIC SARGENT Jerry Lee Lewis ...................................................................ERIC MORRIS* Elvis Presley .....................................................FRANK JOSEPH MORAN* Sam Phillips .....................................................................PAUL RUTLEDGE Jay Perkins (Bass) ........................................................JOSHUA ACKERLEY Fluke (Drummer) .................................................. SPENCER SCHOENEMAN Luther (guitar) ....................................................................... KYLE BAKER Dyanne ........................................................................... MOLLIE FISCHER UNDERSTUDIES Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement for the appearance is made at the time of the performance. Elvis Presley/Johnny Cash/Carl Perkins NICHOLAS LANDE Jerry Lee Lewis/Sam Phillips KYLE PICHA Dyanne KALLI ANDERSON *Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. TIME + PLACE December 4, 1956 at Sun Records, Memphis MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET WILL BE PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION. SYNOPSIS On a Tuesday night, shortly before Christmas 1956, four Legends — Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley — gathered at the Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where they had launched their careers. Word soon leaked out of an impromptu jam session. A newspaper man who was there wrote, “This quartet could sell a million.” Soon, they were dubbed the Million Dollar Quartet. This was their only performance. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips discovered and produced the Million Dollar Quartet. That’s why he, together with Presley and Lewis, were among the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame’s charter inductees. Perkins and Cash soon joined them. Unlike other producers at the time, Phillips took an active role in recording, encouraging and coaxing his young, untested artists to reach deep within themselves. He began by recording blues singers like B.B. King and Ike Turner. Later on, he was the first to sign Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich. In his rudimentary, one-room studio, Phillips looked for innovation, not imitation.