Million Dollar Quartet @Harrah's Fall 2013

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Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee is famous for being the studio that brought Rock n Roll & subsequently Rockabilly, to the masses.  In the 50s, Sam Phillips recorded such iconic artists as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and more.  To grow Sun Studio, Sam had to realizing at one point, that he’d taken Elvis as far as he could and sold Elvis’ contract Colonel Tom Parker.  It’s reported that Elvis didn’t want to leave but understood it was necessary to further his career.  He would remain close with Sam and Sun throughout his career, especially considering they were both located in his hometown.

On Dec 4^th, 1956, Elvis decided to pop into Sun studios to pay a visit to Sam.  While there, he had a chance to check out the latest recording from Carl Perkins, who happened to have a new kid by the name of Jerry Lee Lewis playing piano for him during the sessions.  After chatting for a while, an impromptu jam session began between the 3.  At some point during the fun, John Cash stopped by and joined in. Fortunately for the world, the sound engineer thought it would be a good idea to record the session. Sam Phillips realized the opportunity for some press and called the Memphis paper.  The next day, the paper released the iconic photo of the 4 playing together and dubbed the jam session the Million Dollar Quartet.

In 2007, Million Dollar Quartet the musical came to stages and was a huge success, breaking box office records in some theatres.  It spent over a year on Broadway and has recently taken up residency at Harrah’s.

Details

Location - Harrah's

Run Time - 90 minutes

Performance Times -

• Mon & Thurs - 5:30 pm & 8 pm
• Tues, Wed, Fri & Sun - 7 pm

Ticket Cost -

• $72-97
• Tickets available at Tix for Tonight

Restrictions - Family Friendly

Plot

• It’s a theatrical telling of the real life jam session with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins at Sun Studios in Memphis Tennessee
• The music played during the show consists of some of the greatest hits from each artist, although the set list isn’t factually accurate.
• Songs like Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues & I Walk the Line or Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire and a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On were not performed during this session. In fact, none of these songs were even released until 1957.

Vegas Mate Rating - 4/5 chips

Mark and Keren Rating - 3/5 chips