Million Dollar Quartet will soon play its final encore in Chicago. The jukebox musical, which has been playing at the Apollo Theater since November 2008, will end its run January 17, producer Gigi Pritzker announced today.
The show, which imagines what was said at the real-life jam session between Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis that took place on December 4, 1956 at Memphis's Sun Studios, first played as a rental at the Goodman Theatre before transferring to the Apollo. The original Chicago cast went with the show to Broadway in 2010, with Levi Kreis winning the Tony Award for supporting actor in a musical as hotdogging piano jockey Lewis. But the Chicago production has long outlasted the Broadway run, which lasted 489 performances before closing in 2011; Million Dollar Quartet is nearing 3,000 performances at the Apollo.
Million Dollar Quartet now has productions running in Las Vegas and Branson, Missouri, as well as a national tour; beginning next month, another cast will set sail on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Escape. The current and final Chicago cast includes Brandon Bennett (Elvis Presley), Shaun Whitley (Carl Perkins), Colte Julian (Jerry Lee Lewis), Adam Lee (Johnny Cash), Andy Ahrens (Sam Phillips), Kelly Lamont (Dyanne), Chuck Zayas (Jay Perkins/Bass player) and Patrick Morrow (Fluke/Drummer).