'Million Dollar Quartet' Co-Directed by Eric Schaeffer Headed for Broadway

"Million Dollar Quartet," a musical co-directed by Washington's Eric Schaeffer and based on the legendary 1956 jam session of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, is headed to Broadway.

The production, which has been playing for almost a year to solid-gold reviews in Chicago, will open in the spring, the show's producers announced Tuesday.

Schaeffer, 47, the co-founder and artistic director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, has developed an award-winning track record of work locally and outside the region. On Broadway, he directed "Putting It Together," a Stephen Sondheim revue, in 1999, and also 2008's "Glory Days," about four friends who reunite a year after high school. In addition, Schaeffer has directed the national tour of "Big: The Musical," an adaptation of the Tom Hanks movie, and the London debut of "The Witches of Eastwick."

"I actually didn't know much about that era, but I had heard of this night. When I saw the material, adding the fact that it is true, it is an amazing story," Schaeffer said from New York on Tuesday, in the midst of rehearsals for a musical based on the songs of John Kander and the late Fred Ebb that opens at Signature next week.

"Quartet" centers on one night, Dec. 4, 1956, when the four singers came together in the storefront studio of Sun Records in Memphis. Sam Phillips, the music producer and Sun Records founder, is credited with discovering Cash and Presley as well as recording the work of many blues pioneers, such as Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King.

The impromptu recording session became the stuff of legend. Lewis was in the studio playing for Perkins when in walked Presley, whose hits that year that included "Hound Dog," "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Don't Be Cruel." Phillips called Cash to join them, and the quartet, for the first and last time, played together.

"The characters are so great. You have Jerry Lee, Elvis, Carl Perkins and Cash in a musical together," Schaeffer said. "You have four strong personalities. It is the kind of musical where you go and have a great time, and get lost in the world of rock and roll."

Predictably, the songs have the audience tapping its feet. "Well, the opening number is 'Blue Suede Shoes,' " Schaeffer said; much of the rest of the evening consists of music that paved the way for the rock explosion. "Great Balls of Fire," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Fever" and "Sixteen Tons" are all in the mix.

The musical opened at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in October and moved to Chicago's Apollo Theater in November. The book was written by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux.

"Quartet" is just the latest in a string of shows with Washington connections to find a home on Broadway. "West Side Story," whose pre-Broadway tryout was here, is currently playing at the Palace theater, while "Next to Normal," which stopped at Arena Stage before hitting the Great White Way, is at the Booth. The Kennedy Center's production of "Ragtime" opens at the Neil Simon theater in October.

The transfer of "Quartet" to Broadway presents some challenges, but those apparently don't include additional fundraising, which Schaeffer said has been completed. The main show is 90 minutes with almost an hour of jam session at the end. "There are eight people in the cast and everyone plays their own instruments. It is very demanding on them. You have to find someone to play the piano like Jerry Lee Lewis," Schaeffer said. The casting for New York has not been announced.

At Signature, which is beginning its 20th-anniversary season, Schaeffer has developed many new musicals, as well as given new life and spirit to established hits. Over the years he has received five Helen Hayes awards for outstanding direction and the theater has won six for outstanding musicals. Earlier this year, Signature received a Tony Award for best regional theater.