A rockin' town -- 'Memphis' comes to Mountain View A rockin' town -- 'Memphis' comes to Mountain View (January 16, 2004)

By Katie Vaughn

TheatreWorks patrons will get a little taste of 1950s rock 'n' roll when the curtain opens on the new musical "Memphis" next week.

"Memphis" celebrates the birth of rock 'n' roll music through the story of Huey Calhoun, a disc jockey who controversially introduced white listeners to African-American music in the 1950s by playing it with "traditional" music.

The protagonist is modeled after real-life deejay and rock 'n' roll pioneer Dewey Phillips.

"It is loosely based on Dewey Philips," said director Gabriel Barre. "However, we deliberately changed the name to liberate the character and not be limited to Dewey's experiences."

The musical is a collaboration between Joe DiPietro, the playwright of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," and former Bon Jovi composer and keyboardist David Bryan.

Prior to debuting in Boston in the fall of 2003, "Memphis" was featured in a TheatreWorks workshop in early last year.

While the musical is set in the 1950s, it does not include hit songs from the era. Rather, Bryan created new songs for the show.

However, he didn't normally work with the musical styles from that period. The result is 1950s-style songs with a modern twist.

"It's the 1950s put through his prism and his sensibilities and his tastes," Barre said.

Barre said the songs should appeal to listeners of all ages.

"The older folks will remember what it was like," he said. "As far as the younger folks go, David Bryan's brought a much more modern sensibility to the music. We've found it really engaging for everyone."

In addition to the music, "Memphis" offers rollicking dance scenes, particularly in the second act, in which a television show Huey hosts is depicted.

"There's lots of dancing," Barre said. "It adds a lot of flavor to the show, but it's well justified because his TV show has dancers on it."

While much of the musical is fun-loving, it also carries heavy themes of racial unrest that existed in the South in the 1950s.

Barre said he was attracted to the musical in part because of its openness in dealing with racial issues. He said he discussed the show's themes with the cast from the start of rehearsals.

"I said this show deals with tough issues and deals with them honestly," he continued. "This whole show is about how music broke through barriers and took us to the next level of coexistence that had been so long overdue."

Among its combination of musical styles, lively dance numbers, tragic plot turns and humorous moments, "Memphis" offers its audiences a moral.

"There's definitely a message to the show," Barre said. "Despite everyone discouraging Huey, he follows his beat and finds success for himself and society as a whole. The ultimate message is, don't let anyone steal your rock 'n' roll."

E-mail Katie Vaughn at kvaughn@mv-voice.com

Information:

"Memphis" runs Jan. 21 through Feb. 15 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts,
500 Castro St. Performance times vary and ticket prices range from $20 to $48, with discounts for children, students and seniors. Call 903-6000 for tickets.

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