Musical
Memphis
A white radio DJ in segregated 1950s Tennessee falls for the music of the city's underground Black clubs, and for the singer whose voice he wants on the air.
First Night is a theatre diary for logging the shows you've seen and discovering what to see next.
Productions
Past productions(2)
- Shubert Theatre · New York, NY — 23 September 2009 – 5 August 2012
- Shaftesbury Theatre · London — 9 October 2014 – 31 October 2015
The story
Huey Calhoun is a young white DJ in 1950s Memphis, Tennessee, determined to play the blues and soul records he hears in the city's Black clubs to white Southern listeners. Felicia Farrell is a club singer chasing her big break. As his on-air championing of so-called race records grows, so does a romance between the two that the segregated South will not allow.
In the room
An original story rather than a jukebox show, with new songs written in a hard-driving rock 'n' roll, blues and soul idiom, following the music as it crosses from the clubs to the airwaves.
Good fit if you like
1950s rock 'n' roll and soul, stories about the birth of popular music, and romances set against racial segregation.
Recent logs
Cast & crew
Cast(8)
- Beverley KnightFelicia Farrell
- Killian DonnellyHuey Calhoun
- Rolan BellDelray
- Tyrone HuntleyGator
- Jason PennycookeBobby
- Claire MachinGladys Calhoun
- Mark RoperMr. Simmons
- Matt CardleHuey Calhoun · replacement
Creative & crew(10)
- Director
- Christopher Ashley
- Choreographer
- Sergio Trujillo
- Composer
- David Bryan
- Lyricist
- Joe DiPietro, David Bryan
- Book writer
- Joe DiPietro
- Set designer
- David Gallo
- Costume designer
- Paul Tazewell
- Lighting designer
- Howell Binkley
- Sound designer
- Gareth Owen