Review: Vista's Moonlight season opens with powerfully sung and racially potent 'Memphis'

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Leading lady Janaya Mahealani Jones leads a strong cast in musical about the controversial birth of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s South

Although the air temperature dropped into the mid-50s during Wednesday night’s opening performance of “Memphis” at Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre, its stage was on fire with the jaw-dropping vocals of the musical’s leading lady Janaya Mahealani Jones.

“Memphis” had its first pre-Broadway tryout at La Jolla Playhouse in 2009 and went on to win four 2010 Tony Awards, including best musical, best book and best score by co-writers David Bryan and Joe DiPietro. It’s the fact-based story of how some progressive White Southern disc jockeys — including Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips — helped spur the birth of rock ‘n’ roll by playing Black artists’ records on the radio in the early 1950s.

Jeffrey Polk, in his Moonlight debut as director-choreographer, makes all of the show’s lively music and dance scenes pop with energy. He also brings clarity to the relationships and bubbling racial tension that existed in the ‘50s and, in many ways, continues to this day.

 

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