San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MOONLIGHT’S SEASON OPENS WITH POWERFULLY SUNG, POTENT ‘MEMPHIS’
Although the air temperature dropped into the mid-50s during Wednesday night’s opening performance of “Memphis” at Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre, its stage was on fire with the jaw-dropping vocals of the musical’s leading lady Janaya Mahealani Jones.
The powerhouse R&B singer steals the show in the Tony-winning musical that opens Moonlight Stage Productions’ 2022 summer outdoor season. Jones has a big, soulful voice, charisma and a warm stage presence as Felicia, the talented 1950s nightclub singer whose dream of a radio and recording career is out of reach because of her skin color.
“Memphis” had its first pre-broadway tryout at La Jolla Playhouse in 2009 and went on to win four 2010 Tony Awards, including best musical, best book and best score by co-writers David Bryan and Joe Dipietro. It’s the fact-based story of how some progressive White Southern disc jockeys — including Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips — helped spur the birth of rock ‘n’ roll by playing Black artists’ records on the radio in the early 1950s.
In the musical, fictional Memphis DJ Huey Calhoun falls in love with Felicia and gets her career started on radio and television, but their interracial romance sparks attacks by the city’s White segregationists. The musical’s underpinning is the true story of how White radio and TV station owners, as well as White record producers, appropriated Black music, gave the songs to White singers and rebranded the new genre as rock ‘n’ roll.
Jeffrey Polk, in his Moonlight debut as directorchoreographer, makes all of the show’s lively music and dance scenes pop with energy. He also brings clarity to the relationships and bubbling racial tension that existed in the ‘50s and, in many ways, continues to this day. The musical’s book has its corny clichés, like the character of Huey’s mom, Gladys, who has a lastminute R&B awakening after visiting a Black church, but Polk crafts real people out of what could easily be stereotypical characters.
Bryan Banville, who stars as the illiterate hillbilly DJ Huey, makes his oddball character endearing and frequently hilarious. He has the same weird whiny, singsong vocal delivery as Chad Kimball, who originated the role at La Jolla Playhouse, but Banville brings a fresh rubber-bodied and slouchy energy to the part, and Huey’s songs sit in the sweet spot of Banville’s voice.
Shaun T. Evans is a standout as Felicia’s proud and protective brother, Delray, a Beale Street nightclub owner who has tried but failed to get his sister noticed by radio and record producers. Evans’ intense and fiery performance makes Delray’s fury believable when Felicia takes up with Huey and suffers the violent consequences. Also strong are Kevin “Blax” Burroughs as Bobby, Marqell Edward Clayton as Gator and Morgan Carberry as Gladys.
The musical, with good scenery and costumes, features a 26-member cast and an orchestra led by conductor and music director Lyndon Pugeda. Jennifer Edwards designed lighting, Brandon Boomizad designed sound and Jonathan Infante designed projections. It runs two hours, 30 minutes, with intermission. Although this show is definitely a hot one, it doesn’t hurt to check the forecast and, if necessary, pack a warm coat and blanket before you go.