Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS

[somethingwicked]

Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#1

Posted: 7/29/09 at 12:10pm

"Casting has been announced for the Broadway production of Memphis, which will star Chad Kimball as a white deejay who introduces "black music" to radio audiences, and Montego Glover as the black singer he falls for, at the Shubert Theatre this fall.

Kimball (Into the Woods, Lennon, The Civil War, My Life with Albertine) and Glover (The Color Purple, Ragtime, Aida), originated the roles of Huey Calhoun and Felicia Farrell, respectively, in the recent pre-Broadway engagements of Memphis at the La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre. The musical arrives on Broadway Sept. 23 and will officially open Oct. 19.

The Broadway production will also feature La Jolla and Seattle cast members J. Bernard Calloway (The Good Negro, "The Taking of Pelham 123") as Delray, James Monroe Iglehart (Spelling Bee) as Bobby, Cass Morgan (Mary Poppins, Ring of Fire) as Gladys Calhoun and Derrick Baskin (The Little Mermaid as Gator. Tony nominee Michael McGrath (Spamalot, Is He Dead?) joins the cast as Mr. Simmons.

Many of the principal cast members, including Glover, have been with Memphis since its inception and early incarnations at the North Shore Music Theatre and TheatreWorks in Palo Alto.

The Memphis ensemble will include Jennifer Allen, Brad Bass, Tracee Beazer, Kevin Covert, Hillary Elk, Dionne Figgins, Rhett George, John Jellison, Sydney Morton, Vivian Nixon, John Eric Parker, Jermaine R. Rembert, LaQuet Sharnell, Ephraim Sykes, Cary Tedder, Danny Tidwell, Daniel J. Watts, Katie Webber, Charlie Williams and Dan'yelle Williamson..."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/131542

Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

Updated On: 7/29/09 at 12:10 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#2

Posted: 7/29/09 at 12:13pm

Blah. Boring.

[LizzieCurry]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#2

Posted: 7/29/09 at 12:27pm

YAY! James Monroe Iglehart!

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

[RippedMan]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#3

Posted: 7/29/09 at 12:28pm

Yeah Kimball!

[morosco]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#4

Posted: 7/29/09 at 12:40pm

Looooooooove me some Kimball.

[LesMizazz]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#5

Posted: 7/29/09 at 2:05pm

Danny Tidwell from So You Think You Can Dance, Season 3, is in the Ensemble! He is also the brother of Travis Wall.

"And suddenly I'm flying flying like a bird, like electricity, electricity, sparks inside of me, and I'm free, I'm free" -Billy Elliot

[Jordan Catalano]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#6

Posted: 7/29/09 at 2:09pm

The only real chance this show has/had was for a huge name to go into it.

[somethingwicked]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#7

Posted: 7/29/09 at 3:49pm

I'm thrilled Vivian Nixon will be back on Broadway. HOT FEET was a hot mess, but she was the one thing salvageable in it.

Tracee Beazer and Dan'yelle Williamson (both of whom will be covering Felicia, I presume) are also incredibly talented.

Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

[americanboy99]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#8

Posted: 7/29/09 at 4:52pm

I still stand by my prediction that this will be this season's IN THE HEIGHTS.

[everythingtaboo]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#9

Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:42pm

Remember when it felt like Kimball was in everything on Broadway for awhile? (don't forget he was in Good Vibrations too.)

That said, I'm hopeful that if they market this right, it will do well.

"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008

[Flaunt It]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#10

Posted: 7/30/09 at 12:52am

This show rocks! I wish it well ... Montego Glover is worth the price of admission alone.

[BobbyBubby]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#11

Posted: 7/30/09 at 1:37am

Glover is a star in the making. She has the best song in the show. Let me correct that-the only gooed song in this awful show. The show should really focus on her character. It's a 3rd rate musical about white people stealing music from black people. Been there done that.

[adamgreer]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#12

Posted: 7/30/09 at 1:41am

This will last about a month.

[dented146]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#13

Posted: 7/30/09 at 1:51am

Bobby, did you see the show? It certainly isn't about white people stealing music from black people. And Kimball has far the best song.

[RippedMan]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#14

Posted: 7/30/09 at 1:55am

He was in Good Vibrations? who knew. The last I know that he was in was that commercial, I think it was a beer commercial. Anyways, I'm glad he's back on Broadway. And I hate when people say that this show will fail because it doesn't have a name and blah blah blah. Look at Next to Normal. What name does it have? And please don't tell me Alice Ripley is a name.

[BobbyBubby]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#15

Posted: 7/30/09 at 3:12am

Yes, I saw the show in Seattle. And it is about white people taking music from black people. Kimball's performance is so grating I cannot remember a single song. Glover's lament in Act I is the only moment of genius. Again, the show should follow her character not his. It's Dreamgirls meets Hairspray without the style or substance of either. FLOP! HOCKADOO!

[kooky]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#16

Posted: 7/30/09 at 7:50am

Love Chad .... talented and also a great guy !

[AndAllThatJazz22]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#17

Posted: 7/30/09 at 11:52am

I've come across some clips of this show and I really love the music that I've heard. I really hope that it will get a cast recording.

"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.

[Flaunt It]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#18

Posted: 7/30/09 at 12:07pm

I am sorry, but MEMPHIS is not at all about white people stealing black music. Please explain why you keep saying it is?

How are we to take your observations and analysis seriously if you can not understand the simplest of themes in the show?

[beautywickedlover]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#19

Posted: 7/30/09 at 12:32pm

Danny Tidwell bothers me. He's talented, but he is very cockey and his speaking voice is extremley annoying. It's like a rubber duck and helium mixed together.

[WithoutATrace]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#20

Posted: 7/30/09 at 1:44pm

I'm so happy Vivian Nixon is going to be back on stage!!! Saw her twice in HOT FEET and thought she was an excellent dancer.

[BobbyBubby]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#21

Posted: 7/30/09 at 5:46pm

The black characters constantly bitch and moan about the white people getting the attention and using their songs and style. I don't know how you missed this. They his you over the head with it over and over.

[Flaunt It]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#22

Posted: 7/30/09 at 5:57pm

The struggle is for black people to get their music heard beyond the underground black clubs of Memphis. The lead character helps introduce "race music" on an all white radio station.

Your analysis is still way off the mark.



The story is based off the real life of Dewey Phillips.

[BobbyBubby]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#23

Posted: 7/31/09 at 1:44am

That very may well have been his life but it ain't what they're presenting in the musical Memphis. It is a catastrophe with themes that have been touched on again and again in musical theatre.

[PastorErnst]

re: Kimball and Glover to Star in MEMPHIS#24

Posted: 8/3/09 at 5:36pm

Another clip of Memphis was just posted on 5th Avenue Theatre's YouTube channel.

Maybe it's just me... The more and more I hear about this musical, the more and more I think it's going to be like Hairspray with a focus on Corny Collins. I still can't decide whether to see this one or not.
Memphis Highlights