By Simone Goldstone | NB Indy Soundcheck Columnist
Supergroups have always carried a certain thrill.
Long before collaborations and mashups dominated playlists, fans were already fascinated by the question: what happens when more than one genius walks into the same studio? The answer is rarely predictable, but always electric.
Think of the Traveling Wilburys in the ’80s—George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan swapping verses like old friends. Or Freddie Mercury teaming up with David Bowie on “Under Pressure.” Even now, Taylor Swift and Bon Iver.
But before any of those moments, there was the Million Dollar Quartet.
On December 4, 1956, in the hallowed walls of Sun Records in Memphis, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash stumbled into an impromptu jam session. Four titans of rock and roll, still young, raw, and hungry, gathered around a piano. What they left behind wasn’t just a recording, it was a snapshot of magic, the sound of legends learning how to share the same room.
This session became the inspiration for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet, which is being staged by South Coast Repertory September 13 through October 19.
So who are these famous names?
Carl Perkins (played by Armando Gutierrez) is the craftsman. He was the guitar man, a real musician’s musician. Sharp, twangy, and rhythmic, he inspired everyone from the Beatles to Eric Clapton. Perkins didn’t need the charisma of Elvis or the rebellion of Jerry Lee, his musicianship was enough to lay down the roots of the Guitar God.
Then comes Elvis (played by Rustin Cole Sailors), the crooning superstar, for whom we would not have modern rock and roll, had he not brought the soulful voices of the Southern Delta into major audiences. His charisma, showmanship, and hips led the youth zeitgeist of the late 50s.
Johnny Cash (played by Chris Marsh Clark) is the country music extraordinaire in visions of smoke and Cuban heels. Cash is the storyteller.
Jerry Lee Lewis (played by JP Coletta) is known as “The Killer” for how he attacks the piano with his boogie-woogie riffs and heavy rhythm. He’s rock and roll’s first wild man.
Each of these archetypes brought someone inimitable into these sessions, and the actors bring them alive in “Million Dollar Quartet.”
Actor Armando Gutierrez, an Orange County native who portrayed Carl Perkins in SCR’s 2022 version of “Million Dollar Quartet” staged at Mission San Juan Capistrano and returns for this version, talked to the NB Indy about the show.
NB Indy: How does each actor bring their character to life and showcase the different archetypes between the four musicians?
Gutierrez: It’s a fabulous group, a great group of actors, all playing their instruments with the spirit and energy of what they were like at 20-something before they were all huge celebrities. It’s such a great dichotomy, it’s so fun with these four characters. Elvis shaped what became the presentational form of rock and roll, and Jerry shaped what was the energy and manic craziness of rock and roll. Johnny really brought out the poetry of rock and roll, and Carl Perkins shaped the musicianship of the tone. He was the guitar player and shaped rockabilly, but that changed with Blue Suede Shoes and the birth of rock and roll (not to discount Chuck Berry, who they looked up to). For the four of us as actors, we try our best to bring the energy of what audiences may think they have in their mind—the preconceived notion about them—and the show shows each quality of what each of them brings. We show that through the songs they sing: Johnny the stoic poet, and Jerry Lee’s manic performances. It’s a great challenge, and we’re getting the hang of it.
NB Indy: Was it difficult to play the guitar like Carl Perkins?
Gutierrez: It was hard to crack the code of that twangy guitar with the type of equipment and style. Rockabilly is a hybrid between the blues and what is traditional country; it’s a blend of both the major pentatonic and the minor blues scales. It’s a mixed phrasing, it’s very classically Carl and it took me a while. The first time I did Carl was eight years ago. This is my fifth and my final time (I hope I get the jacket from the show!). It’s still so fun to dive into.
NB Indy: What extra facts did you learn about him that helped you bring him to life?
Gutierrez: His family were sharecroppers from Jackson, Tennessee. Instead of going out with his brother and friends in grade school, he stayed home and played guitar. Not antisocially, but that was his outlet. He’s so moved and connected with his guitar, as well as this day the play takes place. It was a real historical place where they played piano. We don’t talk about it in the play, but his father was also at the studio on this day in real life, which is interesting because he didn’t have a great relationship with his dad, but his dad was there because he wanted to meet Johnny Cash. He struggled with a lot of things, and he didn’t get his rightful place like Elvis and Johnny Cash, but he connected with his dad through meeting these celebrities. He was 24 when this took place and he already had three kids! That’s fascinating to me. That must have changed his commitment not only to music but also from a domestic place of, ‘Well, I need this to work because that’s how I’m gonna feed my children.’
NB Indy: What part of the show gets the biggest audience reaction?
Gutierrez: Anything Jerry Lee Lewis does. He’s got all the jokes, all the flashy piano solos, he’s got great numbers and he’s kind of the baby of the group, historically at this time. He’s not quite a superstar yet, but he’s very eager and wants to make a good impression on these guys, and it lends a lot of great comedy.
NB Indy: If you could have dinner with one of the four musicians, who would it be?
Gutierrez: If I could have dinner with one of them, it would be with Elvis. He’s just such a fascinating creature, and you hear so many different stories from a guy whose whole life was public domain, so to share that sort of small private time with him would be fascinating.
NB Indy: You went to performing arts school in Huntington Beach, what was it like growing up in Orange County and how did it influence your perusal of theater and music?
Gutierrez: I grew up in a house full of music. My father is a drummer, I’m the oldest of four. My youngest brother still plays as well. We’re in a band in Brooklyn and my younger brother is actually the drummer in this production of Million Dollar Quartet. In Orange County, my parents thought you have to be in the movies in L.A., and they didn’t know how to crack into that. I remember going to a children’s theater production in middle school and thought that’s what I wanted to do, and because I was growing up in Huntington Beach, we found out there was this academy (Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts). The program has grown today, it’s more fertile and more resourceful than when I went there 20 years ago. This will be my third time working with South Coast Repertory. As a young guy growing up in Orange County, it was always a big dream of mine to work on their main stage where we are performing the show. This is very special to me; to do a show I saw on Broadway 10-15 years ago and to do it on a stage that I saw as a young kid. If a 12-year-old me knew I got it, and I did it, and to share it with my younger brother, who is on stage for the first time on a production, it’s such a dream come true, not to make it sound cliche.
NB Indy: This show also features characters who aren’t stars or musicians but worked behind the scenes to make music possible. Such as Sam Phillips, the producer at Sun Records. Tell me about these hidden heroes of music.
Gutierrez: The musical is a great love letter to the four who are always mentioned, but this show is from the lens of Sam Phillips and pays the respects of what he did to shape these artists into the stars they became, and the genre and sound and energy that were later borrowed by big record companies (RCA and Columbia) but couldn’t figure out how he was getting this sound. There was a quality to the way the records were made. For whatever reason, the way music reverbed in there made a sound we will always deem synonymous with rock and roll. The play really brings his story to life, and he’s wildly responsible for this enormous movement in American music.
NB Indy: Do you think you and Carl Perkins would be friends in real life?
Gutierrez: I’d like to think we could get on. We love the same kind of music. I’m a big fan of the blues, Junior Wells and Freddy King, and Memphis Slim. I think we’d get on as far as musical sensibilities, and who knows, maybe we’d play in a band together.
For tickets to “Million Dollar Quartet” visit www.SCR.org.
