'Memphis' to rock Midland arts center

Scott Tady, Beaver County Times
·2 min read

MIDLAND − The roof-raising, rock 'n roll journey "Memphis The Musical," opens July 22 and continues July 23-24 and 29-31 at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center.

A professional equity-led cast and Lincoln Park alums tackle the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, set in the early 1950s and inspired by actual events, with an original score written by Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan.

"This is a company of incredibly talented artists who have been working tirelessly to bring this important story to life,” Justin Fortunato, producing artistic director of Lincoln Park, said.

James Washington Manning, a founding member of the August Wilson Dance Ensemble, is choreographer for "Memphis The Musical." With choreography credits ranging from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Houston Met Too, to Lifetime and Netflix TV productions, Manning brings the experience and big-scale vision necessary to transform Lincoln Park's MainStage Theater into a seminal rock 'n' roll club in the Deep South, and other electrifying settings following the storyline of forbidden love, between a white radio DJ who wants to change the world and a Black nightclub singer on the verge of her big break.

Manning says there's a scene where audience members might feel compelled to get up and dance.

The show co-stars Shenandoah University junior and musical theater student Shea Curran (deejay Huey Calhoun) and Jana Glover (singer Felicia Farrell) a Point Park University musical theatre alum ("Ordinary Days" and "Pippin.") Curran graduated from Lincoln Park, where local audiences might remember him in stage roles like Romeo, Buddy the Elf and Cosmo Brown.

The cast also includes Jerrial Young (Bobby Dupree) and Tyqaun Malik White (Wailin Joe, Reverand Hobson) both of whose credits include the Emmy Award nominated FX series "Pose," and Tom Schaller (Mr. Simmons) a director of former Lincoln Park shows whose 31-year stage career includes work with The Pittsburgh Playhouse, City Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO.

Tickets cost $18 to $25 at LincolnParkArts.org or calling 724-576-4644.

The National Endowment for the Arts will award a $15,000 grant to The Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center for this summer's production of "Memphis The Musical."
The National Endowment for the Arts will award a $15,000 grant to The Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center for this summer's production of "Memphis The Musical."

More:Bigger, better, bolder: Lincoln Park announces 2021-22 subscription series

"Memphis The Musical" concludes the 2021-'22 stage series at Lincoln Park.

The 2022-'23 season already has been announced.

More:Lincoln Park announces '22-23 season

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: 'Memphis' to rock Midland arts center