I first saw Memphis in 2011 when it came to Broadway in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theater. I remembered it as a high energy show (with a message), and so it is again at the Porchlight Theater, whose intimacy makes it all the more electric (though, as noted below, I might have preferred more acoustic).

Because the show was still in previews, we received an audience response form encouraging us to give the Artistic Director our suggestions and constructive criticisms about the performance. With apologies to The Rolling Stones, I said I know it’s only rock ’n’ roll (and I like it), but please turn down the volume. The four of us who went together to the show were in agreement that the music was almost painfully loud in spots and that it would be nice to be able to hear all the lyrics.

A detail I had forgotten about the show is its amusing snipe at Perry Como, which is consistent with the opinion of my recent Newberry Library music class instructor (see post on Adult Seminars), who made a special point of telling us how mundane he thought Como’s singing style was and then played one of his records to prove it. (Como fairs somewhat better in the movie Blast from the Past, where Brendan Fraser’s character fawns over Como’s rendition of Round and Round to the amazement of Alicia Silverstone’s character.)

Because it was my first time in the balcony at Porchlight, I was relieved to discover that its front row had plenty of leg room and was far enough back from the railing that my fear of heights was not triggered. It’s easier to enjoy a show when your only concern is permanent hearing loss.