Crazy Little Huey

Before Alan "Moondog" Freed made Cleveland rock or G. Wiz dropped the needle on hip-hop in St. Louis, white DJ Dewey Phillips brought black music to the Memphis airwaves. Loosely based on his radio career, Memphis tells the story of how rock & roll, the musical love child of blues, soul and country, continued to evolve in the '50s as the distinctions of "black music" and "white music" blurred. Huey Calhoun has an ear for good tunes (he plays a track over the speakers at the department store where he works and sells 29 copies in a matter of minutes), and while applying for a DJ gig at a radio station, he hijacks the mike and plays a rock & roll record by an African American artist -- it's then that the phone calls start rolling in, and Calhoun's game-changing career takes flight. The tale of prejudice, the uniting power of good music and, of course, love unfolds at the Fox Theatre (527 North Grand Boulevard) Tuesday through Sunday (May 1 to 13). Tickets are $15 to $75; visit www.fabulousfox.com or call 314-534-1111 for showtimes and to purchase tickets.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: May 1. Continues through May 13, 2012