Wednesday on Broadway is a two-show day. So, naturally, I saw two shows. After a wonderful matinee of Anything Goes, my parents and I headed to the Shubert Theatre to see Memphis, which was my mom’s top pick for our week of Broadway. In retrospect, I realize that it’s the only show we saw the whole week that wasn’t part of this year’s Tony season, having won the 2010 Tony Award for best musical.
The seats at the Shubert were extremely comfortable – perhaps the most comfortable all week, and our particular seats were on the aisle in the center orchestra section, about twenty rows back, under the mezzanine overhang. They were awesome seats and we had a great view of the stage!
My parents, being the baby-boomers that they are, grew up listening to music a lot like that in Memphis. And so did I. It was wonderful to hear original songs which are so reminiscent of the jubilant rock and roll of the mid-twentieth century. The music was fun and meaningful, and they sang it so well. It’s definitely a good thing that the Shubert Theatre is well-constructed, or Montego Glover may well have blown the roof off the place. My mom loved Montego as well, saying that she was way too beautiful to fall in love with someone who has a receding hairline and stooped walk. Love is blind, mom!
My father enjoyed the show a lot, especially the music, but he says he was quite distracted by Chad Kimball’s “Huey voice” and bent knees. While I guess I see where my dad’s coming from here, I think those distinctive attributes are important to the character. The way I see it, it’s important that we don’t see Huey as a smooth, suave white guy coming in to take advantage of the awesome musical talent on Beale Street. It’s important that we recognize that, although he is white, he’s far from privileged. Although there are scenes which indicate as much, I thought it was good that he stood out from the crowd for reasons other than race. The music of Felicia and the other black musicians in Memphis appeals to him because he is also different. That’s not to say his experiences are the same or even comparable, but it’s important to remember that Huey is different, too. I don’t know if any of that made sense, but I’m going to roll with it.
My hat-tip of the night has to go to the character of Bobby for his awesome big-dude dancing and general amazing-ness. And I’d also like to thank the folks who threw away their expensive re-usable cups. As my parents and I were leaving the theater, we notice two such logo-emblazoned cups (lids and all) sitting inside an otherwise-empty wastepaper basket. In my world, that’s a free souvenir. Of course, I sent them on a trip through the dishwasher, and now I have an awesome, useful souvenir!
Now, I’m very curious to see the national touring company of Memphis, which will be making its way to Durham this upcoming season. I’m always eager to see how an entirely different cast interprets a show, but I’m also interested in some of the technical aspects of the show. In The Lion King, the tour can’t have Pride Rock come out of the ground. The same is also true for the kitchen/bedroom set in Billy Elliot. I really loved the Broadway set of Memphis, with the columns large enough to hold dancing teenagers, the people walking on the street level above the club, and the radio booth coming out of the ground. It will be interesting to see how those scenic elements are handled when the set has to move from theater to theater.
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