Nearly 27,000 patrons saw the award-winning Broadway show Memphis during its 13-show run in October at The Orpheum Theatre. President and CEO Pat Halloran called it "a significant event" and added, "It's not every day that a Tony Award winner, bearing the name of your city, launches an international tour from your city."
The production, which won a 2010 Tony Award for Best Musical,was very loosely based on the life of Memphis deejay Dewey Phillips and set on Beale Street in the 1950s. Halloran says that when performer Bryan Fenkart sang "Memphis Lives in Me," he received a four-minute ovation from the audience. The song was written by David Bryan, the Grammy-winning keyboard player and founding member of Bon Jovi. Playwright was Joe DiPietro, famous for I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.
According to Orpheum officials, the show's estimated economic impact was over $10 million, and 700 cast and crew members and others involved with its production lived in theBluff City in weeks leading up to Memphis' premier.
The show is now on an 81-week international tour that will include stops in Canada, Japan, and London. Orpheum officials say they have rescheduled it to return in 2013,
