Memphis Broadway Musical.

On a Tuesday night, September 29th, I saw a new Broadway musical “Memphis” and attended a discussion with creative and cast members afterwards. I would have probably skipped this musical, if it wasn’t a part of a BroadwaySpace.com event, the site where I free-lance from time to time as a video correspondent. You can see my video report about this show from the main page of the site (I am featured there).

This show about a disk-jockey (Huey) who tries to promote the black music on a local radio (and later on a local TV station) of Memphis and falls in love to an African-American singer. The only problem is that it is 50s and music performed by African Americans is not a common thing on the radio. Mixed (white and black) couples are also rare phenomenon. Hence, a lot of problems appear on the way of Huey and his supporters.

From the beginning of the Act 1, the first thing I noticed – it is similarities to the “Hairspray”, in such things as style of music, the approximate time period (50s-60s), and the plot (African Americans on TV and radio). It even has the same energy level, sometimes I even danced along with the actors on my seat (I always do it as long as I enjoy the music and do not disturb people around). A thing that touched me is that the marriages between black and white people were forbidden in the fifties and it is a part of the plot. It is easy to make a parallel between that issue and today’s Gay Marriage problem. At the end of the second act I almost cried, because this problem (mixed marriage) was really affecting the main characters.

The second act was a little bit undeveloped in my opinion. Everything finished too fast, like they just wanted to wrap it up fast. But there were some amazing dancing numbers and a couple of dramatic moments too.

Speaking about sets, light design and choreography I want to say that the sets gave an impression of the Memphis Streets in the 50s, and other locations, such as a radio office, a night club, or a shop. I sat too far though, so I can’t fully review it. The same thing about acting, it looked good from the balcony level, but I can’t tell more, because I haven’t seen all the face expressions and emotions. I really enjoyed the choreography; it was really beautiful and energetic, even from the balcony level.

To sum all this up, I want to say that I enjoyed the “Memphis” experience. Although, it really reminds me the “Hairspray” at many points. The score and songs were good, but I didn’t really remember any of them. In other words, it was a good experience, but not great. I think Broadway needs fresh ideas and fresh music to bring young people to the theaters. Producers (writers, composers, and lyricists) should really stop doing analogs of the commercial successful shows, like “Hairspray” and create something new, modern and suitable for modern audience.