The musical, Memphis, depicts racial tensions through the lens of the city’s 1950’s music scene. While the integration of black and white styles of music was seen as taboo at the time, young, white and ignorant Huey Calhoun finds himself drawn to African American rock n’ roll. After falling for Felicia Delray, a charming African American singer, Huey begins to feature traditionally “black music” on his local radio show. Huey becomes a local celebrity, but controversy over his musical tastes soon appears.

While Memphis’s racial undercurrents could make a play rather serious, the show’s tone is anything but. The liveliness of the music as well as the cast served as a reminder to what true theater should be – something new and exciting every show, where the audience cannot refrain from a standing ovation.

Given music’s prevalence in the show’s plot, it was refreshing to see the orchestra on stage. Immaculate voices were evident in the cast especially Eugene H. Russell IV (Gator), and

(Felicia). Travis Smith delivered  a phenomenal performance, as Huey, making the story come alive every moment he stood on stage.

While the music was upbeat and the show, vibrant, the one thing missing was clean dance numbers. Choreographer, Waverly Lucas, is well-renowned for his professional dance career; however, it seemed some of the dance numbers were stunted by the lack of dance training within the ensemble. Some attempts were made at mimicking the show’s Broadway version in areas such as the use of double-dutch jump roping, but the cast lacked the ability to perform the necessary stunts to make these scenes worthwhile. Multiple sets were unpolished and staging was off, but it did not prevent the audience from emitting a thunderous applause since the cast consistently gave it their all.

The show made my heart swell. So, take a break from dreary dramas and get ready to sing and dance to some of theatre’s catchiest tunes.

Now playing at the Rialto Theatre Sept. 10 – 20, Memphis is co-created by the Theatrical Outfit and the Aurora Theatre. The show, which has been nominated for 13 Suzi Bass Awards, won numerous awards for its Broadway production, including a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2010. With a nearly perfect cast and spot-on leads, Memphis is well on its way toward a successful awards season this year.