Memphis Tickets

Memphis is a musical that is based on Huey Phillips, a DJ from Memphis who was one of the first Caucasian disc jockeys to play African American music at the birth of rock and roll. The music and lyrics were composed by David Bryan, who many know from his day gig as the keyboard player in Bon Jovi.

Bryan has clearly had mega success with Bon Jovi for the last three decades, including sold out world tours and 130 million albums sold, and he has also found success on the Broadway stage as well. He studied classical piano at Julliard for thirteen years and was a pre-med student at Rutgers with a 4.0 average before Bon Jovi took off.

Both Bryan and his collaborator, Joe DiPietro, hail from New Jersey, and before working together, DiPietro had a number of plays he helmed off Broadway including I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, which reportedly had the longest run of any off-Broadway play.

From Bon Jovi to the Roots of Rock

The triumphant journey of Memphis to Broadway is a story straight out of a Bon Jovi song. It took six years, but it finally did make it Broadway, and win a number of Tonys and Drama Desk Awards.

Memphis first played off Broadway in 2002, then went to the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego in 2008, then went to Broadway in 2009. David Bryan and Joe DiPierto also collaborated together on The Toxic Avenger: The Musical, based on the hilarious B movie nuclear superhero character.

But Memphis is not solely about Dewey Phillips because the tag line for the musical reads: “His Vision. Her Voice. The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” The play also deals with his relationship with Felicia Farrell, a singer he discovers and pledges to get played on the radio (he does, and she becomes a sensation).

From Jersey to Memphis

David Bryan was writing songs on his own, but when it was taking forever to get anyone to record or perform them, until one day his music publisher recommended he put them in a musical. Bryan said that in addition to major success with Bon Jovi, “I also have a terrific hobby that became a full time job,” referring to his stage career.

Bryan told a reporter as soon as he read the play book for Memphis, the music all came to him, the music, lyrics and harmonies, so he ran down to the basement, recorded a demo CD where he sang all the vocal parts, sent it off to Joe DiPietro, and a collaboration was born.

Critics have called Memphis “a witty, moving story,” “an exuberant musical with catchy songs, heaping spoonfuls of inspirational moments, and gifted performers at the top of their game,” and “the very essence of what a Broadway musical should be.”

Memphis has won three Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score Written for the Theater. Memphis has also won Drama Desks awards for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Actress in a Musical, Outstanding Music, and Outstanding Orchestrations.