The legend of the Million Dollar Quartet lives on

Some of the greatest things in life are unplanned. The Million Dollar Quartet session, an impromptu jam, which happened 68 years ago in Sun Record Studios in Memphis, featured four icons: Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

The latter was working on some songs at Sun Records after the success of the single “Blue Suede Shoes.” Lewis was hired to play piano, and Cash showed up to hear what Perkins was working on, and before long the Million Dollar Quartet – the name is from a headline about the future legends that appeared the following day in the Memphis Press-Scimitar – was covering Gospel tunes.

The session lives on through the 1981 release “The Million Dollar Quartet” and the 1990 collection, “Elvis Presley: The Million Dollar Quartet.”

The group, the Million Dollar Quartet, who will perform Saturday at the First Interstate Center for the Arts, keep the legacy going as well.

Bill Scott Sheets, who portrays Cash, enjoys the challenge of playing one of the larger-than-life figures in music history.

“There was no one like Johnny Cash,” Sheets said. “He was a musician, who cast one of the greatest shadows. But I think that’s the way it is for each member of the Million Dollar Quartet.

“This is special for a couple of reasons. The most important is that the Million Dollar Quartet really happened. The four of them were there on Dec. 4, 1956. What happened was incredible and what those four musicians achieved is unbelievable. What we do is continue to play their music to extend their incredible legacy.”

Garrett Forrestal, who portrays Lewis, can’t imagine what it was like when the Million Dollar Quartet changed the face of music.

“It’s hard to put in perspective what they did during the ‘50s, since I wasn’t alive, but it had to be incredible, since it was brand new,” Forrestal said. “Part of what was cool about it was that there was no rule book. They just made it all up as they went along and they made some of the greatest music ever.”

The Million Dollar Quartet tour, which also includes Alex Swindle as Presley and Kurt Jenkins as Perkins, will play the hits but also a number of Christmas classics.

“We’re not just doing ‘Jingle Bells,’ we’re doing our version of ‘Jingle Bells,’ ” Sheets said. “We’ll be playing the songs of the season but we’ll also play the songs people love, like “Ring of Fire.”

The Million Dollar Quartet will also play the chart toppers of 1956.

“There’s variety in our show,” Sheets said. “You’ll hear an interesting selection of tunes. You’ll experience guitars.

“It’s so much fun playing the Johnny Cash songs. I’ve always loved him and loved it when Rick Rubin had him cover songs like (Nine Inch Nails’) ‘Hurt.’ And on the other side of that, I love Cash singing ‘A Boy Named Sue.’ There was never anyone like him and there was never anybody like the guys, who were the Million Dollar Quartet. They changed the face of rock and roll and the impact is still felt today. That’s why people come out to see us.”