The big trucks rolled into town earlier this week, and along with them they brought a big act! Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins moved into Northwest Arkansas on Monday, and they're spending the week at Walton Arts Center. The hit musical, Million Dollar Quartet is running through Sunday, February 26, and tickets are still available.
We had the pleasure of working with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) on a Broadway Breakfast Wednesday morning. Christopher Ryan Grant (Sam Phillips) and Arkansas native Cody Slaughter (Elvis) are two of the cast members that joined the crowd for a creative conversation. OLLI, located on the University of Arkansas campus, conducted a six-week class that studied the four icons portrayed in Million Dollar Quartet.
Christopher Ryan Grant (left) and Cody Slaughter (right)
Slaughter got his start as an Elvis Tribute Artist with no formal training; Grant on the other hand is a graduate with an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama. Their dynamic during the conversation was so fun, and the crowd was eating up every bit of it. They would tease each other about their personal backgrounds and their characters, but it was all in good humor. Slaughter talked about how he loves performing in Million Dollar Quartet because he gets to make Elvis 'human' instead of just impersonating him, and Grant confessed he never wanted to be in a musical, but this show won him over.
Come see Million Dollar Quartet this week at Walton Arts Center and get lost in a night of rock and roll, good times and even some laughs. Tickets can be purchased here or by calling the Walton Arts Center box office at 479.443.5600.
The National Tour of Million Dollar Quartet. Photo by Joan Marcus