See You Later, Alligator! London’s Million Dollar Quartet Sets Closing Date

The London production of rockabilly musical Million Dollar Quartet will play its last jam session on January 14, 2012. The Eric Schaeffer-helmed show opened at the Noël Coward on February 28, 2011, after beginning previews on February 8.

Inspired by the famed December 4, 1956, recording session that brought together four rock icons, Million Dollar Quartet recreates the historic day in the Memphis Sun Records studio when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins took part in an impromptu jam session. The show includes some of the actual songs that were performed on the day as well as standards for the quartet including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On.”

The West End company currently includes Oliver Seymour-Marsh (Carl Perkins), Bill Ward (Sam Phillips), Ben Goddard (Jerry Lee Lewis), Derek Hagen (Johnny Cash), Francesca Jackson (Dyanne) and Michael Malarkey (Elvis Presley).

Productions of Million Dollar Quartet continues to run off-Broadway at New World Stages and at Chicago’s Apollo Theatre. A US national tour is set to launch on October 11.