I've lived in New York for over 10 years now and I can count on my hands the number of Broadway musicals that I've seen. I like theater as a concept and I love music, but Broadway shows don't generally hold my interest because they tend to be far more cautious and conservative than I prefer my art to be.

I attended a preview performance of the new Broadway musical Memphis at The Shubert Theater last night. Memphis tells a story we've seen a thousand times in a very predictable way. The story is one of a white boy meets black girl and they share a common love of black music. He's a deejay, she's a soul singer and they fall for each other as the music propels each to career success. All is nearly lost when the dark clouds of racism threaten to tear them apart. Hmmm.

The cast is talented, professional and capable, but the subject matter and songs are a bit underwhelming. The staging is pretty good and there are definitely some breakout performances during the show including James Monroe Iglehart as Bobby, Cass Morgan as Mama and Chad Kimball as Huey. Montego Glover as Felicia is certainly a talented and capable actress/vocalist, but I kept wishing she had better songs to sing.

All that being said, these things are a matter of opinion and mine is no more important than anyone else's. If you like great dancing, good music and musical theater in general you will enjoy this show. If you crave ground breaking art that pushes the envelope, then turn on HBO.

I love seeing other artists doing what they love to do and I know there's an audience for this type of entertainment. Tell everyone you know who loves fairly traditional musicals to check this out. They will most definitely enjoy this show, our economy needs the revenue and I'm sure the musicians, cast and everyone who put the show together will appreciate the support.

As for me...hmmmm...not so much.

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