The national tour of the musical Memphis, coming to the Bushnell Jan. 10-15, is bursting with Connecticut connections—seemingly slight, some of them, but adding up to an intriguing mix which befits the show’s blend of old traditions, new musical concepts, old hands with long Broadway, nationally touring and regional resumes and precocious young talent who’ve spent more time in recording studios than they have onstage. (Seriously, scratch a cast member here and you’ll find a solo album).
Goodspeed veterans rise above the rest: one of the co-producers who steered the project to Broadway is Sue Frost, who spent two decades producing shows for Goodspeed Musicals. Memphis’ script is by Joe DiPietro, who had several gigs at Goodspeed (adapting Rodgers & Hart’s Babes in Arms, creating a new framework for Gershwin songs with Heaven on Earth, and scripting All Shook Up (which tried out at the Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre prior to Broadway). The playwright’s breakthrough success—the longrunning Off Broadway relationship revue I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, debuted at the Long Wharf Theatre.
Julie Johnson, who plays Gladys in Memphis, was Miss Trixie in the Goodspeed premiere of the musical Paper Moon, based on the Peter Bogdanovich film and Joe David Brown novel. Johnson’s an accomplished cabaret singer and Patsy Cline impersonator.
Two other names in the jumpy Memphis touring cast jump out due to Connecticut ties. New York-based William Parry has been in movies, soap operas and in the original casts of two Sondheim musicals. He was also in last year’s Yale Rep premiere of the musical We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
Ensemble member Happy McPartlin was born in New Hampshire but raised in Bethel, Connecticut. She was in the national tour of Hairspray, which visited Connecticut a few times. She has even worked with William Parry before, in a show called The Gig, and is understudying Julie Johnson’s role of Gladys.
For the full cast of Memphis, which stars Bryan Fenkart as Huey, Felicia Boswell as Felicia, Quentin Earl Darrington as Delray, Will Mann as Bobby and Rhett George as Gator, find the tour’s helpful website.