Million Dollar Quartet
Hormel Theater, Phoenix, AZ, December 28, 2025
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
Photos by Brenna Russell
The only difference between Broadway and the Phoenix Theatre Company (PTC) is the weather outside in December. PTC has revived Million Dollar Quartet for a run in their Main Stage Theater (now called the Hormel) through March 8. The cast features Equity actors Alyssa Chiarello as Dyanne, Gregg Hammer as Johnny Cash (he’s also the music director), Kurt Jenkins as Carl Perkins, Kyle Sorrell as Sam Phillips, Nick Voss as Elvis Presley, and Brady Wease as Jerry Lee Lewis. They all have extensive experience; the featured singers have all played their respective roles previously, some at PTC in previous mountings of the show.
Sorrell’s portrayal of Sam Phillips a self-made man of the 1950s was sharp and heartfelt. He holds the story line together as we meet each character on December 4, 1956 and also back when Phillips first auditioned each one and signed them to his fledgling Sun Records. The four principals are all stellar, as is Austin Case on bass as Jay Perkins and Robert Grahmann on flute and drums. Chiarello, who also served as Dance Captain, has starred in many PTC productions, but she hasn’t toured the world in Million Dollar Quartet as have her fellow cast members. She nailed her character and lent a confident female voice to the show’s jam session. She also blew the audience away with her solos: “Fever” (Eddie Cooley/Johnny Davenport) and “I Hear You Knocking” (Dave Bartholomew/Pearl King).
Director Scott Weinstein did a brilliant job living up to his claim that the show is “pure energy,” which allowed the audience to be a fly on the wall during a real moment of rock-and-roll history. I was seated to the far left of the theater, but I had a perfect view of every scene and had the added bonus of watching Wease dominate the piano keys as Lewis. The creative team of Douglas Clarke (scenic design), Adriana Diaz (costume design), Daniel Davisson (lighting design) and Matthew Drui (sound) created a Broadway experience for the packed Sunday matinee of the show’s opening week.
Act I featured ten songs that allowed each rock-and-roll icon to flesh out their character and their relationship with Phillips and to take the audience back in time. It just got better in Act II, and came to a peak when the entire ensemble sang “Party” (Jessie Mae Robinson) and “Great Balls of Fire” (Otis Blackwel/Jack Hammer). “Great Balls” serves first as background, but then enforces the climax of the story when Phillips learns that Cash and Perkins are moving on to another label. Phillips makes the decision to reject a lucrative offer to join Presley at RCA and to stick with Lewis and a new kid he just signed, Roy Orbison, so that he can remain his own boss. The music continued for five songs—four listed in the program plus a Christmas song that followed the curtain call and went on too long for the audience to stand, especially when there was no room for dancing.
Kudos to Michelle Chin, the resident dramaturg, for her program notes that fleshed out the history of the actual reunion and for her part in the making of the show, which debuted in 2007. This is the third time PTC has “gotten the band back together” under the direction of Scott Weinstein. The audience, which ranged from children to seniors, was rocking with applause and positive comments. If you love this show, classic rock and roll, or great theater in a warm winter climate, get your tickets before March 8, 2026. www.phoenxitheatre.com
