advertisement

'Million Dollar Quartet' prequel 'Heartbreak Hotel' makes Chicago debut

When the new Elvis Presley jukebox musical “Heartbreak Hotel” makes its Chicago debut at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, an actor familiar to local theater audiences will once again don the iconic “Blue Suede Shoes.”

Denver native Eddie Clendening first won acclaim as the “King of Rock” in the original 2008 Chicago cast of “Million Dollar Quartet” and its 2010 Broadway transfer. The show dramatized the historic 1956 night when Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins all jammed together in the Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, and featured actors who doubled as musicians playing their own instruments.

Clendening formed his first band at the age of 14, and later toured with his band The Blue Ribbon Boys. Yet he never planned on having a theater career portraying Elvis Presley.

Broadway veteran Eddie Clendening ("Million Dollar Quartet") stars as Elvis Presley in the musical "Heartbreak Hotel" at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place in Chicago.

“I never had any sort of designs on being a tribute artist or impersonator,” Clendening said. “Actually when I got called in to audition for 'Million Dollar Quartet,' it was as Carl Perkins. But I guess when they saw me, the said, 'This guy should be Elvis Presley.'”

Though its New York run lasted only two years, “Million Dollar Quartet” ran a record-breaking seven years in Chicago - initially at the Goodman Theatre, and then at the Apollo Theatre.

Producers are hoping that lightning strikes twice with “Heartbreak Hotel,” which is billed as a prequel to “Million Dollar Quartet” and also features a cast of musician-actors. “Heartbreak Hotel” focuses on the 18-month time period when Presley skyrocketed from an unknown country boy to an international rock star.

“It covers basically right out of high school when (Presley) walked into Sun Records to make the demo for his mother, right up to his first movie musical and RCA recording,” Clendening said. “Enter Col. Tom Parker as the villain, and you've got that classic drama of the people who got accidentally left behind.”

Clendening said that “Heartbreak Hotel” also looks at 1950s American race relations and issues dealing with cultural appropriation in music.

“That's important to talk about with Elvis,” he said. “He kind of grew up in a poor, black part of town in Tupelo in Mississippi, and all of that music was always just around him. I don't think it was ever sort of a conscious decision to steal or anything. Some things just get assimilated in a certain way.”

Broadway veteran Eddie Clendening ("Million Dollar Quartet") stars as Elvis Presley in the musical "Heartbreak Hotel" at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place in Chicago.

Clendening hopes that “Heartbreak Hotel” will have a similar trajectory as “Million Dollar Quartet,” which was staged in two earlier regional runs before Chicago became its make-or-break city for success. Clendening starred in “Heartbreak Hotel” for its 2017 world premiere at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, and now he hopes that the show will be embraced by Windy City audiences.

“It's such a great music town. Chicago's got anything and everything you could ask for with live music, so it's always been one of my favorite places in the world. I was actually planning on moving here before I got the call for 'Million Dollar Quartet,'” Clendening said. “I spent three years with the show here before moving with the show to Broadway, but I've been wanting to come back ever since. So this has been a nice sort of homecoming for me.”

“Heartbreak Hotel”

<b>Location:</b> Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000 or broadway inchicago.com

<b>Showtimes:</b> 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday (also July 2; no shows July 4 or Aug. 7); 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday (also Aug. 8 and 22); 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday (no matinee July 1; no evening show July 15 or Aug. 26; 3 p.m. opening July 15); through Sept. 9

<b>Tickets:</b> $35-$96

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.