In his fifth stint playing the man in black, Blake Burgess returns to Million Dollar Quartet. Produced by the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, the show features vintage rock legends Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash together one fateful night at Sun Studios in 1956. Mega-hits of the era are the centerpiece of this historical fiction that imagines how these stars might have interacted.
Written by Floyd Mutrux and Colin Escott, Million Dollar Quartet has become a theatrical staple for regional and touring companies, affording consistent work to actors who fit the types. Burgess, who also played Johnny Cash in the recent production of Million Dollar Quartet at Ensemble Theatre, notes that the ability to sing bass in his natural Alabama drawl lent itself to the role. “A lot of these actors who do Million Dollar Quartet are obsessed with these guys,” Burgess says. “If a guy plays Elvis, he knows all of Elvis’s discography. I don’t have that same obsession with Johnny Cash, but the more I play him, I’ve learned to love the legend as much as everyone else.”
Hits from the 1950s are plentiful throughout the script, creating the need for actors who are also competent musicians. “I’d never played guitar in a show until Johnny Cash,” Burgess says, “and thankfully he’s not the greatest guitar player in the world — a lot of cowboy chords and boom-chicka-booms. The actor/musician world is a whole other side of the musical community … To jump in with that has been such a blessing.”
The Rubicon’s production is directed by Creg Sclavi, who has a long history with the show, including the national tour and the immersive production in Chicago. The show ends with a short, crowd-favorite concert featuring all four musicians playing together. See Million Dollar Quartet in Ventura at the Rubicon Theatre October 15-November 9. rubicontheatre.org/events/million-dollar-quartet
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