Buell Theater to Welcome MEMPHIS, 10/10-10/21

The Buell Theater is set to welcome the national tour of the Broadway hit MEMPHIS, for a limited engagement. The tour will perform for Denver audiences in October, from the 10th through the 21st.

MEMPHIS is a musical by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, and loosely based on historic Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play African American music in the 1950s. MEMPHIS takes place in the smoky halls and underground clubs of the segregated 50’s, where a young white DJ named Huey Calhoun fell in love with everything he shouldn’t: rock and roll and an electrifying black singer. MEMPHIS is an original story about the cultural revolution that erupted when his vision met her voice, and the music changed forever. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves -- filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock 'n' roll.

MEMPHIS was originally staged during the 2003-04 season at both the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts and TheatreWorks in Mountain View, California and opened on Broadway on October 19, 2009. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical, along with three other Tony Awards, at the 2010 Tony Awards.

Directed by Christopher Ashley and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, the Broadway production began previews at the Shubert Theatre on September 23, 2009 and officially opened on October 19. The cast included many of the cast members from the pre-Broadway productions, including Chad Kimball as Huey Calhoun and Montego Glover as Felicia Farrell. The Broadway production currently stars RENT veteran Adam Pascal as Calhoun. 

After such praise, the Broadway production was filmed during regularly scheduled performances in January 2011 by Broadway Worldwide for high definition exhibition in digital cinemas during spring 2011. The show was captured utilizing multiple high definition cameras and 96 tracks of sound recording. Director Don Roy King and sound producer Matt Kaplowitz led the production team for Broadway Worldwide. The filmed production was screened nationwide from April 28 through May 3, 2011.

More information on the national tour of Memphis can be found at www.memphisthemusical.com. For tickets to the tour's stop in Denver, www.denvercenter.org.