Review: ‘Memphis’ like a great ‘Hairspray’ cover
“Memphis,” like “Hairspray” before it, is a crowd-pleaser that embraces the transformative powers of rock and roll, a story about the possibility of racial harmony through the unifying power of music. It’s perhaps too buoyant and facile in the face of serious, racially-charged subject matter – it is, after all, set in the South in the mid- to late ’50s – but it does work as a tribute to one of the greatest eras in pop music history and as a showcase for the talents of its cast.
The show, now playing in town as part of the Best of Broadway series, begins as Huey Calhoun (Daniel S. Hines), a gee-whiz, illiterate white guy who loves R&B and soul music, wanders into a black nightclub with the cavalier ambition of getting so-called “race music” played on white radio stations. The bar’s owner Delray (Keith Patrick McCoy) is skeptical, especially when his beautiful sister Felicia (the revelatory Zuri Washington) catches Huey’s eye.
Most deejays at the time didn’t believe Chuck Berry should be rubbing elbows with Perry Como, but Huey ends up locking himself in a broadcast booth and sending a catchy tune called “Everybody Wants to Be Black on a Saturday Night” out over the airwaves. It’s a huge hit with listeners, and soon Huey’s made it his goal to turn Felicia into a star.
Their relationship naturally develops into a romance, which they have to keep secret: Despite Huey’s success, Delray wants nothing to do with Huey, and Huey’s mother (Pat Sibley) isn’t too happy when someone throws a brick through the living room window. There are further complications when, after landing a hosting gig on an “American Bandstand”-type TV show, Huey struggles with station managers to keep his cast of backup dancers racially integrated.
“Memphis” might be another tale of segregation and racial prejudice told through the perspective of a white male protagonist, but it does deal with the issue of white assimilation of black musical culture in an effective way. Rock is, the show points out, basically the blues sped up a little bit, and the show ends up being a lively celebration of an era when black musicians and R&B record labels like Motown, Stax and Chess were producing some of the best, most influential popular music of all time.
Written by Joe DiPietro and Bon Jovi’s David Bryan, “Memphis” won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2010, and it’s the kind of production that lives and dies based on the energy of the performers. Hines is a lot of fun as Huey – we’re captivated by him the second he walks onstage – and I especially enjoyed Rendell DeBose’s lively supporting turn as a radio station janitor with a surprisingly great voice. But it’s Washington’s performance that’s the true standout here: She’s got a killer voice, and she turns Felicia into a tough, strong-willed woman who ends up succeeding through her own talent and determination.
While “Memphis” is pretty predictable in almost all of its plotting – we’ve seen this story told before, and we’ve seen it told with more nuance – it’s like a great cover version of an already classic song: It might sound familiar, but it gets by on sheer spirit.