Memphis is set in the places where rock and roll was born in the 1950s: the seedy nightclubs, radio stations and recording studios of the musically-rich Tennessee city. With an original score, it tells the fictional story of DJ Huey Calhoun, a good ole' local boy with a passion for R&B music and Felicia Farrell, an up-and-coming black singer that he meets one fateful night on Beale Street. Despite the objections of their loved ones (Huey's close-minded mama and Felicia's cautious brother, a club owner), they embark on a dangerous affair. As their careers rise, the relationship is challenged by personal ambition and the pressures of an outside world unable to accept their love. Originally shown in select theatres, then broadcast as an episode of the PBS series "Great Performances" (season 39, episode 11).
Acting
Kimball and Glover's chemistry could power Beale Street.
Score
Original songs that actually slap—rare for stage-to-screen.
Direction
Don Roy King makes filmed theater feel cinematic, not cramped.
Director
Don Roy King
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Chad Kimball originated the role on Broadway and won a Tony; this filmed version captures his final performances before he left the show in 2011.
The real Dewey Phillips was Memphis's first DJ to play Black music for white audiences—Huey's character is loosely inspired by him and Alan Freed, though the romance is fictional.
US
