MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, Broadway's new hit musical, is pleased to announce that Academy Award winner and two-time Grammy Award winner Melissa Etheridge will join the cast of the Tony nominated Best Musical for a special performance during the finale of the Wednesday evening, June 23 performance.
Etheridge, whose latest album Fearless Love recently was released on Island Records to widespread acclaim, will be making her Broadway debut on the stage of the Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street) with this performance that will feature a new song, not already in the show, that will be pulled from the canon of rock and roll's iconic songs.
In addition to her appearance on the stage of the Nederlander Theatre, Etheridge will be performing a full length concert in New York on Wednesday, July 14 at The United Palace Theatre (4140 Broadway). Tickets for that concert can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET has been nominated for three Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Levi Kreis) and Best Book of a Musical (Colin Escott & Floyd Mutrux). The show received an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Levi Kreis), a Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Musical Revue and three Drama League Nominations including Distinguished Production of a Musical and Distinguished Performance (Lance Guest & Levi Kreis).
The cast of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET features Eddie Clendening (Elvis Presley), Lance Guest (Johnny Cash), Levi Kreis (Jerry Lee Lewis), Robert Britton Lyons (Carl Perkins), Tony Award® nominee Hunter Foster (Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown) and Elizabeth Stanley (Cry-Baby).
On December 4, 1956, an auspicious twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together. The place was Sun Records' storefront studio in Memphis. The man who made it happen was Sam Phillips, the "Father of Rock and Roll," who discovered them all. The four young musicians united for the only time in their careers for an impromptu recording that has come to be known as one of the greatest rock jam sessions of all time.
Inspired by the actual event, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET features a treasure trove of the greatest rock and roll, gospel, R&B and country hits from these musicians, including such iconic songs as "Blue Suede Shoes," "Fever," "Sixteen Tons," "Who Do You Love?," "Great Balls of Fire," "Riders in the Sky," "I Walk the Line," "Folsom Prison Blues," and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET captures the infectious spirit, freewheeling excitement and thrilling sounds of a singular moment when four of the music industry's most extraordinary talents, all in their creative prime, came together for one of the most memorable nights in music history.
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET is directed by Eric Schaeffer and features a book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux. The design team for Broadway includes: Derek McLane (scenic design), Howell Binkley (lighting design), Jane Greenwood (costume design), Kai Harada (sound design) and Chuck Mead (musical arrangements and supervision).
