On December 4th 1956, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley walked into Sun Records studios. ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ is the story of that legendary meeting.
It’s hard to believe that these four superstars all converged at the same place on the same date – but this musical story is a hypothetical telling of that event, which also included music manager Sam Phillips (played by Darren Day). And this show is more of a musical than a story – we get to hear actors perform and sing the songs of these four great men: Cash (Christopher Erasmus), Jerry Lee Lewis (Joe Bence), Carl Perkins (Joey Bradick) and Elvis Presley (Connor Payne). Each man gets his moment to shine, and they are all brilliant singers (Bence as Lewis definitely has the musical chops while Payne not only has the good looks of Elvis but also a cheeky personality to match).
So what goes on in this historic meeting? Not a whole lot. They talk about their lives (Bence repeats over and over again where he’s from while Presley’s girlfriend Dyanne (Jenay Naima) tags along and also gets to belt out a number), add in a bit of obligatory drama, and what you have is a bit of a jukebox musical with very talented performers. While Erasmus as Cash doesn’t quite win you over, writers Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux and director Johnathon O’Boyle give us a night of toe tapping musical fun!
Million Dollar Quartet at The Arts at Marble Arch until December 6th, 2026