Two Lake Norman arts organizations are sharing a stage and splitting the risk for the first time.
Cain Center for the Arts and Davidson Community Players open "Million Dollar Quartet" on Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Cain Center in Cornelius, kicking off a two-and-a-half-week run that neither group could have mounted alone. The rock 'n' roll musical dramatizes the Dec. 4, 1956, recording session at Sun Records in Memphis, where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis gathered for an impromptu jam.
The collaboration marks the first time the two organizations have shared financial risk and creative control, according to Cornelius Today. Davidson Community Players, a nonprofit theater company founded in 1965, had rented Cain Center's stage for earlier productions including "Frozen Jr.," but this partnership goes further.
Cain Center executive director Justin Dionne told Cornelius Today the pooled resources let both organizations build the show to its full potential without compromise.
"Whatever 'Million Dollar Quartet' is written to be, we can do that. We don't have to compromise," Dionne said.
For DCP executive director Steve Kaliski, the longer run solves a persistent problem. His company previously had as little as three days for technical rehearsals before opening a show for a brief engagement. The co-production model gives the cast two and a half weeks of performances, closer to a professional theater schedule that lets word of mouth build an audience.
The production features an all-North Carolina cast: Eli Fischer as Elvis Presley, Ian Benjamin as Jerry Lee Lewis, Connor Nielsen as Johnny Cash and Matty Montes as Carl Perkins. Much of the crew calls the Lake Norman area home. The show includes more than 20 songs, among them "Blue Suede Shoes," "Great Balls of Fire" and "Hound Dog."
Both leaders see the show as a test case. Charlotte currently has no professional theater company, Dionne noted, unlike its professional symphony, ballet and opera. He and Kaliski have discussed whether their organizations could eventually help fill that gap. In an LKN Magazine preview published Aug. 1, Kaliski said the collaboration also allows the organizations to pay artists more equitable rates while keeping the talent local.
Performances run Wednesdays through Sundays, with evening shows at 7:30 p.m. and matinees at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, includes two performances. The run closes Sunday, Aug. 23. Tickets range from about $40 to $60 and are available at cainarts.org. Cain Center for the Arts is located at 21348 Catawba Ave., Cornelius.
Coming up around Lake Norman
- Live Under the Oaks — Free outdoor music, Fridays at 6 p.m., Birkdale Village, 8712 Lindholm Dr., Huntersville.
- Davidson National Night Out — Tuesday, Oct. 6, 5–7 p.m., Ada Jenkins Center, 212 Gamble St., Davidson. Free.
