Milwaukee Rep’s Highly Entertaining ‘Million Dollar Quartet’

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Photo by Michael Brosilow

Million Dollar Quartet (2025)

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Million Dollar Quartet at the Wilson Theater in Vogel Hall at Marcus Performing Arts Center, April 22 –May 24, 2025. Pictured:The cast of Million Dollar Quartet.

Oh what a night! December 4,1956 to be exact. That’s when four music legends got together and had an impromptu music session that created its own rich legacy for years to come.

Johnny Cash. Jerry Lee Lewis. Carl Perkins. Elvis Presley. All met up at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, run by Sam Phillips. They all got their start with Sun Records. It would be first—and last—last time the foursome would ever be together.

 And that eventful evening is what the musical Million Dollar Quartet recreates at the Milwaukee Rep. Million Dollar Quartet is a jukebox musical featuring hit songs. And with this “quartet,” the show is filled with many great hits to enjoy, considering all of the amazing and talented singer songwriters, including Phillips himself.

Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux wrote the book, with the original concept and direction by Mutrux. In between all the exceptional numbers, the storyline deals with various conflicts (now famous performers leaving for rival record labels, personal squabbling), but it’s all the memorable music and multi-talented cast that make Million Dollar Quartet a must-see.

Director Laura Braza has assembled a uniformly excellent ensemble that can sing, dance and play their own instruments with such precision that it makes the entire production soar to higher heights—literally in some numbers as Lewis climbs atop the piano (among others). 

For fans of these musicians and their music, it’s all there and then some: “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line” (Cash); “Blue Suede Shoes” (written by Perkins but made famous by Elvis); “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (Lewis) and the King himself “Hound Dog” and “That’s All Right” among other hit songs. 

And the classic covers are just as good, especially when they all play on Chuck Berry’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” (Berry’s record label rejected the term, “brown skinned“) to the Black spiritual “Down by the Riverside.” Just hearing lesser-known tunes like the Willie Dixon blues standard “My Babe” (Perkins) to Merle Travis’ “Sixteen Tons” (Cash) only adds to just how special that in credible night turned out to be.

And then there’s the truly incredible cast. The “quartet” can do it all but in a way that captures the essence and personalities of these legends without descending into surface imitation. While they can physically resemble and sound like the artists, they clearly embody the spirit and character of each the musician, and the man. 

Blake Burgess (Johnny Cash—through May 11), JP Coletta (Jerry Lee Lewis), Armando Gutierrez (Carl Perkins) and Joe Hebel (Elvis Presley) do it all in terms of singing, dancing and playing their own instruments. And they do all exceedingly well. As Presley’s girlfriend, Dyanne, Aja Alcazar holds her own and adds her own musicality to “Fever” (a hit for Peggy Lee two years later). As Sun Records honcho Sam Phillips, Seth K Hale gives this complex character a range and depth that showcases the tough business exterior with his own inner vulnerabilities. A standout performance among standout performances in this production.

(Patrick Morrow on drums and Michael Ritter on bass do a solid job of Rounding out the sound of “that session on that night”).

Million Dollar Quartet creates the story of one momentous night in music history. But the music and the men behind and in front of it, live on hanks to this highly entertaining and high energy production. 

Million Dollar Quartet runs through May 24 at the Marcus Center’s Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, Riverwalk Entrance. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes, no intermission. Recommended for ages 12 and up.  For more information, call the call the Rep Box Office: 414-224-1761,  or visit milwaukeerep.com