“Million Dollar Quartet Christmas" at the Timber Lake Playhouse -- December 1 through 10.
Friday, December 1, through Sunday, December 10
Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL
Between December 1 and 10, Timber Lake Playhouse audiences are invited to spend some seasonal time with music icons Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvin Presley when the Mt. Carroll venue presents its run of Million Dollar Quartet Christmas, a yuletide-themed sequel to the Tony-winning Broadway smash Million Dollar Quartet boasting seasonal perennials such as “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Run Run Rudolph” alongside classics including “Don't Be Cruel” and “Ring of Fire.”
With the show featuring a book by Tony nominee Colin Escott and orchestrations and additional arrangements by Chuck Mead , Million Dollar Quartet Christmas is the followup to the acclaimed jukebox musical that found an extraordinary twist of fate bringing Cash, Lewis, Perkins, and Presley together at Memphis' Sun Records recording studio for what would be one of the greatest jam sessions ever. The show finds the famed foursome reunited again to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year, with Sun Records now donned with a Christmas tree, garland, and mistletoe, and ringing with both the sounds of the season and the chart-toppers that made these legendary artists famous. Fans are invited to follow along with the gang’s usual antics as everyone collectively journeys through a story of Christmases past, present, and future, with the astounding repertoire boasting such timeless hits as “Blue Christmas,” “Santa Baby,” “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,” “I'll Be Home for Christmas,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”
The original Million Dollar Quartet stage musical dramatizes the famed Million Dollar Quartet recording session, and after premiering at Florida's Seaside Music Theatre, it was then staged at Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington in 2007, breaking box office records. The musical opened for a limited run at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in September of 2008, transferring to Chicago's Apollo Theater a month later, and Million Dollar Quartet's Broadway production opened at the Nederlander Theatre on April 11, 2010. The show finally closed on June 12, 2011, after 489 performances and 34 previews, and then re-opened Off-Broadway at New World Stages. The Broadway rendition was nominated for three Tony Awards in 2010: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical for Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the show's Jerry Lee Lewis Levi Kreis, who eventually won the prize.
Timber Lake's performing quartet is composed of Actors' Equity Association members Alessandro Viviano as Elvis, Brady Wease as Jerry Lee Lewis, Collin Yates as Carl Perkins, and Peter Oyloe as Johnny Cash, with the show's ensemble cast completed by Taylor Kraft, Zachary Tate, Clay Arthur, and Mike Lucchetti.
Million Dollar Quartet Christmas runs at the Mt. Carroll venue from December 1 through 10, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, December 2 at 2 p.m. Admission is $35, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
