MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET Comes to Grand Theatre's Spriet Stage

Through Tennessee’s infamous Sun Records and one legendary night with Presley, Cash, Lewis, and Perkins – London, Ontario’s international music footprint will be on full display with an extended run of Million Dollar Quartet, the final production of the Grand Theatre’s 2023/24 season. The popular jukebox musical relives the unplanned collision of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins who found themselves in the same place at the same time, and ultimately recorded perhaps the greatest jam session of all time including “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, “That's Alright, Mama”, “Great Balls of Fire”, “Hound Dog”, and more.

“Million Dollar Quartet serves up the most energetic party of a show, featuring an all-star cast of incredible actor-musicians,” says Director and Choreographer, Julie Tomaino. “Add that to the story of Sam Phillips and Sun Records, and you’re guaranteed a great night out.”

“To think that there was ever a night as magical as this, where four men on the brink of superstardom came together in one space, is almost unbelievable,” shares Rachel Peake, Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre. “What playwrights Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux have done in this piece is to allow us to be a fly on the wall - to imagine the conversations, the jokes, the sharing, and the heartache of that night that will forever be a part of music history.”

Million Dollar Quartet boasts a stacked cast of multi-talented actor-musicians including Tyler Check as Carl Perkins, Christo Graham as Jerry Lee Lewis, Justin Han as W.S. Fluke Holland, Kelly Holiff as Dyanne, Omar Alex Khan as Sam Phillips, Erik Larson as Jay Perkins, Alex Panneton (Standby), Adam Stevenson as Johnny Cash, and Michael Vanhevel as Elvis Presley.

Director and Choreographer, Julie Tomaino, is joined by Patrick Bowman as Musical Director, Joshua Quinlan as Set Designer, Laura Delchiaro as Costume Designer, Michelle Ramsay as Lighting Designer and Brian Kenny as Sound Designer.

This all-new production of Million Dollar Quartet is designed and built locally in London, Ontario by a national team of guest artists and the talented members of the Grand Theatre’s Production Department. Set Designer Joshua Quinlan (Stratford Festival, Crow’s Theatre, Siminovitch Protégé Designer, Dora Award winner), shares that audiences can again expect a set at the Grand that is very much a character in itself. Past productions of the show are known to focus on the inside of the recording studio, however Quinlan’s set will first welcome audiences to the Memphis street-front before stepping inside the studio itself. “The exterior of Sun Records Studio is iconic. It’s a landmark attraction that people have been taking photos of for decades,” says Quinlan. “The scenic and props teams at the Grand have outdone themselves - recreating the giant guitar, the Sun Records logo mural, and they’ve even hand-laid and carved thousands of foam bricks to bring this building to life. What’s most exciting about starting our production outside of the building is that we actually invite the audience in to be a fly-on-the-wall for one of rock and roll’s most historic moments.”

In addition to guest artists from across the country and around the world, the Grand Theatre is home for 72 production and technical staff and arts workers who bring theatre to life on our stages through props, wardrobe, scenic carpentry and art, and more. Tennessee’s infamous Sun Studio (Sun Records) will be built in London, Ontario for the Grand Theatre’s Spriet Stage by London-based arts workers. Costume Designer Laura Delchiaro sets the creative direction for the production’s wardrobe, which will be sourced, stitched, and fitted in London by the Grand Theatre’s Wardrobe Department.

While this Million Dollar Quartet will have a set like never before, the cast are intimately familiar with the rock ‘n’ roll icons that they will be playing having held the roles, cumulatively, more than a dozen times previously throughout their careers. Kelly Holiff, who plays Dyanne, also has a childhood connection to Johnny Cash, as the niece of Saul Holiff who managed Johnny Cash for thirteen pivotal years, from 1960 to 1973 (“Ring of Fire”, Hello, I'm Johnny Cash; Man in Black; At Folsom Prison / “Folsom Prison Blues - Live”). Saul was born in London, Ontario, briefly attended London Central Secondary School, and even performed at the Grand Theatre itself before moving into concert promotion and artist management with offices in London, Los Angeles, and Nashville. Cash was so present in Holiff’s London life that the chart-topping, multi-platinum certified rockstar became part of the family for Kelly and her cousins growing up.

Saul Holiff has been awarded a lifetime-achievement award by the Jack Richardson London Music Awards, and is credited with contributing to London’s international reputation as a music city in the 1960s. Saul is also said to have introduced June Carter into Cash’s act, and Cash famously proposed to June onstage at London Gardens back in 1968. "Johnny & June", a three-story-tall mural of this legendary moment in London and music history, is featured on the north-facing wall of London’s 10,000-seat arena and performance venue, Budweiser Gardens. With deep roots in the music industry, London continues to make its mark hosting the world’s most celebrated and in-demand performers, developing generations of world-renowned artists, songwriters, producers and engineers, and is recognized as Canada's first UNESCO City of Music (later joined by Toronto, Montreal and Québec City).

“Growing up in the segregated South, the four white musicians featured in the Million Dollar Quartet were greatly influenced and taught by Black musicians around them,” says Norma Coates, Associate Professor, Don Wright Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University. The public are invited to attend a special edition of AfterWORDS, the Grand’s post-show creative discussion, on Wednesday, May 1. This talk will feature special guests award-winning actor, musician, playwright, music director, and sound designer, Beau Dixon, and Norma Coates, Associate Professor, Don Wright Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University, who will explore the roots of rock ‘n’ roll in blues, gospel, and R&B.

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