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Exclusive Interview: Kasie Buono Roberts and Nathan Robert of Meadow Brook Theatre's 'Million Dollar Quartet' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Million Dollar Quartet is coming to Meadowbrook Theater and today we're talking to two of the cast members from the show, Casey Roberts and Nathan Roberts.
• 0:05
  Thank you so much for being here today.
• 0:07
  How you two doing?
• 0:08
  Great!
• 0:09
  are so grateful to be here.
• 0:10
  How are you?
• 0:13
  Doing great.
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  We're so excited.
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  I'm so excited to talk to you about the show.
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  This sounds like such an exciting, fun show to do, a part of history being brought up on stage.
• 0:21
  uh But for those who maybe aren't familiar with it, Kasie, I was wondering, can you tell us what's going on in Million Dollar Quartet?
• 0:29
  100%.
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  So this is the night that the iconic million dollar quartet, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, all got together and had this unexpected jam session at Sun
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  Records with Sam Phillips.
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  uh So Nathan here plays Johnny Cash.
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  We've done the show quite a few times.
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  So it's kind of the storyline of how they all kind of stumble into the studio one at a time and just so happen to have this iconic moment in history where they have this jam
• 0:57
  session together.
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  You can look it up, it's a real thing.
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  You can listen to the actual recording of that night and it's pretty cool.
• 1:03
  It's very high energy, so much fun.
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  So much iconic music in it too.
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  Nathan, what's it kind of like stepping into this show?
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  Because I mean, I think that like, you know, like Casey said, it's kind of has that great energy.
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  And it's kind of cool to be able to step into like a real part of history, a real moment in time.
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  What's it like for you?
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  I've really fallen in love with this show over the past three years.
• 1:25
  I've been doing it since 2023 at different theaters.
• 1:31
  And I played Johnny Cash in this one, and I also sometimes do Elvis.
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  So it's a lot of fun to just, I sometimes flip-flop and I'll dive into each role and...
• 1:45
  I've just really fallen in love with this style of music and I've even just like, I feel like every night I'm watching some video of Johnny Cash doing the same song at different,
• 1:59
  I went through and watched every version of each song and just like, I just have so much fun just trying to emulate what he's doing.
• 2:10
  that's really cool though, Nathan, that get to kind of see this music and kind of see who Johnny Cash is and try to emulate that a little bit.
• 2:16
  who is Johnny Cash to you?
• 2:19
  Johnny Cash is...
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  um
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  He's a big, strong stoic man, and he tells some really funny stories, to be honest.
• 2:28
  ah He can be kind of gritty, it's just so interesting, he's this strong presence, but then he's just having fun when he does his music.
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  One number that I'm listening to a lot just in my own personal time right now is Boy Named Sue.
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  ah
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  funnest song I've heard.
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  And he's just, he's telling this crazy story of trying to kill his dad who named him Sue.
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  Cause that's just something he's upset about.
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  It's just a funny story.
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  And a lot of his songs are just like these, these bad-ass songs where, but like with a funny spin on it.
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  So I think he's, I think he's just a really cool storyteller.
• 3:18
  Absolutely.
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  I I grew up on Johnny Cash.
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  My dad was very much an old school country guy.
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  And so like his songs were always the most, you know, you're kind of laughing about him as you're, as a kid, as you're listening to him.
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  Cause the boy named Sue is one of the ones that definitely needs to stand out.
• 3:30
  Um, but there's also some great ones like ring a fire that like kind of balances like that little bit of humor, but also that, that old country feel
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  he's just he's a really real person and just like he can hit every type of story.
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  I just really like his storytelling.
• 3:47
  Absolutely.
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  So how do you begin developing a character such as Johnny Cash?
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  Like, where do you start?
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  well, it definitely, the, research starts with the videos.
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  So you're watching the videos and making sure, cause I have, I have a couple of different jobs.
• 4:00
  I'm trying to, I'm trying to sound like him.
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  I'm trying to act like him and I'm trying to look like him.
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  Um, and I'm also, I'm trying to, I'm trying to like play the same style.
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  like I'm, I've, I've really focused in on the strumming pattern.
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  Like he hits a, very iconic boom chukka sound where it's, it's, it's the.
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  boom chicka boom chicka boom.
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  You know like it's it's very stylistic so you want you want to there's so much things to think about so like I'm always I'm like I said I'm always watching new videos and trying
• 4:36
  to find something different that I didn't see before that I can I can bring into my performance uh to help you experience Johnny Cash some more.
• 4:47
  Absolutely.
• 4:48
  And Casey, you're playing Dyanne
• 4:51
  Yes!
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  Who is Dyanne to you?
• 4:55
  Okay, so Dyanne is kind of this composite character almost of all these women that Elvis, iconic women that Elvis dated throughout the years, but she is based on a real life person
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  named Marilyn Evans who just so happened to be there the night of December 4th.
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  If you look up the Million Dollar Quartet's iconic photo, if you see the full version, the uncropped version, Marilyn is actually sitting on the piano in that, which we don't always
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  see that full photo, so it's kind of funny if you do some research.
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  You can see what she really looked like.
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  But it's funny because Dyanne is loosely based off of her, but kind of like all of these iconic character traits of the 50s, of women in the 50s.
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  um
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  I absolutely love playing this role.
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  I get to sing Fever, I Hear You Knockin', which is just so much fun.
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  A little jazz, a little rock, some belting.
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  So much fun.
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  I mean, I'm just grateful to be here with jamming on stage with these amazing, incredibly talented guys.
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  I mean, this cast is just insane.
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  So I love playing Dyanne no matter where it is, but I feel extra lucky to be here right now with this specific group.
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  They're so talented.
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  And that's so cool that like you're like, I'm doing this justice.
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  Like this person was there on the piano and like, I'm bringing it to life, even though you don't get to see that.
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  Cause I was going to say, I saw the picture and I didn't ever saw her.
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  So that's incredible that she was there.
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  when you picture that iconic photo of them around the piano, you you just picture the four because it's kind of cropped.
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  But yeah, Google it.
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  Google Image.
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  See that uncropped version?
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  She's there.
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  So what is kind of Dyanne's personal narrative or how does she factor into the show?
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  While she's there, what's kind of her journey?
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  Yeah, so she met Elvis while she was performing in Hollywood and she's actually just kind of low stakes tagging along with Elvis uh specifically to Sun Studio, but they're on their
• 6:47
  way to meet his family for dinner.
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  So really it was kind of like, or at least my way of portraying Dyanne was like, he told her this is going to be a quick stop to meet Sam Phillips and like whoever's there is
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  there.
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  And then they walk in and whoa, Johnny Cash is singing right now.
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  Like what is going on?
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  And since Dyanne is a performer herself, obviously she's aware of who these iconic people are in the music industry.
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  And it turns out to be probably one of the most memorable moments of her life.
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  And she thought it was going to be this casual stop in, give Mr.
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  Phillips a quick Christmas present from Elvis, and then go off to dinner that night.
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  But it turns out to be this super iconic moment in history.
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  I mean that's so cool to both be like for that character for that person but also for you to be able to portray that like being surrounded by these people who are Emulating these
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  stars that are from music, you know
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  Yeah, I feel like I don't have to act because I genuinely am like having the best time ever when I'm doing this show so It's so much fun
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  So what do you, like where do you start to develop your character such as Dyanne?
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  Yeah, I think it starts with a lot of obviously research as well, specifically with the music from that era, since she is a bit of a composite character.
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  I'm not trying to sound exactly like one person in particular.
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  I'm not trying to look like one person in particular the way that like these guys are.
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  I kind of have some leeway, which is cool.
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  I get to make her my own and I love that.
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  I love getting the opportunity to do that.
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  But based on uh some stereotypes of the 50s and maybe some not,
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  uh But especially the music.
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  The music is the biggest thing for me is listening to all sorts of 50s, uh late 50s.
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  The vocal styles and just little characterizations in uh music at that time was where I started with Dyanne, was really trying to nail that iconic 50s sound for women, for female
• 8:43
  vocalists at that time.
• 8:45
  With this being based on a real event or a real story, does it change how you would do prepare for your characters?
• 8:51
  it add pressure to bringing to life an event such as this?
• 8:57
  I think so.
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  you agree?
• 8:59
  There's absolutely a pressure to uh just make sure you're doing everything justice.
• 9:05
  Absolutely.
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  I mean, I could totally imagine like you had mentioned Nathan, you're trying to like, you're watching videos because you want to make sure that you're capturing who Johnny Cash
• 9:14
  is, which is almost sometimes I hear, I'm not an actor, but I hear as an actor, it could be harder to emulate somebody because people are trying to like come in there to recognize
• 9:22
  Johnny Cash.
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  And so the extra work to put in to make sure you're kind of nailing that has to, I don't want to say like pressure, like it's a bad thing, but like it does add like a level to
• 9:31
  this performance.
• 9:34
  Absolutely.
• 9:35
  sometimes, it's because sometimes it's hard to like do exactly what someone else did but then it's also you're not, like with a regular role in a musical you get to form your
• 9:48
  character and in this role I'm trying to use a character that already exists so but it's also nice because you do have a blueprint to follow.
• 9:59
  Sure, absolutely.
• 10:02
  So speaking of all these iconic numbers that you're doing, mean all of this great music, Nathan, is there a specific number from the show that you enjoy either like performing or
• 10:11
  even just if you're not in that number, but you just perform, you love listening to it every single night?
• 10:15
  I think my favorite number as Johnny Cash is Folsom Prison Blues.
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  It's the first...
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  um
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  iconic Johnny Cash song that you hear him sing in the show and it just kind of really pushes him right into the story and tells you because each as each member of the quartet
• 10:39
  enters the building they each do one of their most iconic songs but also one of like their very beginning songs in their career and it kind of really sets the tone and lets you know
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  who they are, why they're there, and why they became such a big hit.
• 10:59
  That's so awesome.
• 11:00
  That's awesome.
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  Casey, how about for you?
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  Is there a number from this show that you love performing?
• 11:05
  my gosh, well this is just me in the background, but Ghost Riders has always been one of my favorite songs, period.
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  The first time I ever did this show I was like, hands down my favorite song in the show.
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  This specific version, and that was before Nathan did Johnny too, so like then once he started doing Johnny I was like, I love it even more!
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  em
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  but I also really, really love, Sam C.
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  Jones is just amazing as Carl Perkins.
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  I love his Who Do You Love?
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  And that's a song that like, I always liked it, but it never stood out as being one of my favorites in the show.
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  But I just think he, Sam does such a great job with it that it stands out as one of my top couple songs that I just love listening to.
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  And I'm not even on stage yet at that point, but I'm like in the wings jamming.
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  You're having your own little dance party over in the wings.
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  I am!
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  I'm living my best life!
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  So what is something maybe, Casey, that you feel like people don't know about, or might be shocked to learn about this moment in time that's kind of happening with Million Dollar
• 12:08
  Quartet?
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  Hmm, that's a good question.
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  I think, well, specifically for my character, like we were saying before, people didn't really know that she was there or that she even maybe existed at the time.
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  So I think that's kind of a shock, like why is this one random girl on stage?
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  Who is she?
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  What's her deal?
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  So that's just like, in terms of my own character, something that might be a surprise.
• 12:32
  I don't want to give away the plot, but I do think that the entire story of the show, like we have some surprises pop in and out through
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  and especially at the end, uh that audiences maybe didn't know how it all went down um because typically there's an audience reaction that gets a little bit of ooh.
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  So just know, if anyone listening is coming to see the show, you might have that reaction at one point.
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  I mean, that's good.
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  You gotta tease them a little bit so that they'll come and see, be like, what is it that she's talking about, you know?
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  the show.
• 13:13
  Nathan, what themes from Million Dollar Quartet really resonate with you?
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  What themes?
• 13:20
  Well.
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  Million Dollar Quartet, it's really digging into...
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  It's a lot about the music, because that's what we're really trying to make sure you get.
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  But the themes with the plot, what would you say is the strong theme with the plot?
• 13:39
  uh Well, I think there's this theme of togetherness, right?
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  Because...
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  At the end of the day, you're this band, not real band, but like, when you're all jamming together, you feel like this amazing band who are friends, but there's all these
• 13:56
  underlying stories, like each guy has their own...
• 13:59
  Struggles going on internal struggles going on within them and like you wouldn't know that when you're listening to this amazing music you think wow like these guys have it made
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  they're they're They're superstars.
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  They're these iconic celebrities But you really kind of start to learn especially in the show you learn all of their Internal struggles that were happening at the time that we
• 14:21
  didn't really know about or remember necessarily now all these years later That they were struggling with
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  Thanks for the popcorn.
• 14:29
  uh
• 14:32
  I think it brings them down to almost like uh a human level.
• 14:37
  Sometimes we take these stars and we make them so otherworldly.
• 14:42
  We idolize them and sometimes we have to remember that they're just humans at the end of the day.
• 14:47
  Yes, and I think that that is the difference, what makes this show different from an impersonator show, like a tribute show.
• 14:55
  uh You get to see them be real people and not just like...
• 15:00
  I'm going to see an Elvis tribute show.
• 15:02
  This guy was great impersonating Elvis.
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  Like, no, this is somebody who's truly telling his story and the ups, the highs, the lows.
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  uh So I do love that about this show.
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  You kind of get that humane, real, genuine touch to it.
• 15:17
  Absolutely, I mean and that's part of what makes shows like this so extraordinary is because people want the human aspect Yeah, you're right.
• 15:24
  You could go see an Elvis impersonator.
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  You can go find a Johnny Cash impersonator, but to find somebody who can both Embodied them but also tell the story of who they are or like even in just for this this chapter of
• 15:35
  his life, you know That's the brilliance of it
• 15:39
  Yeah, so true.
• 15:41
  One final question for both of you then is just, what are you hoping audiences take away from this production of Million Dollar Quartet?
• 15:48
  I hope they have fun.
• 15:50
  The goal is to get everybody on their feet by the end.
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  So we kind of have like a show proper and then we've almost got this like concert at the end that's like our almost like our version of a curtain call.
• 16:01
  uh And like it's just if we can treat it like a dance party and everyone's up on their feet, living their best life, like feeling like they're there and taking them back.
• 16:11
  Like if audiences...
• 16:14
  love Dellebase or love Johnny Cash and that's the reaction they would have had to them at that time.
• 16:19
  um We just we thrive off of that energy so like I don't know I really hope that they just have fun and they feel like free to sing along free to dance along get on their feet
• 16:30
  because we love that.
• 16:34
  That's the goal.
• 16:36
  I hope everybody like goes away from it.
• 16:39
  Feeling like they were they're they're transported back into like a really fun time that they enjoyed seeing these guys in real life.
• 16:50
  100 %
• 16:51
  Absolutely.
• 16:52
  And I hope that they show up and I hope that people love this and it sounds like such a good time and they too have the perfect energy so I think that this is just going to be
• 17:01
  such a great time and I people show up for Million Dollar Quartet.
• 17:03
  So thank you two for being here.
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  It's been a pleasure talking with you.
• 17:05
  Thank you for having us.
• 17:06
  This was so much fun.
• 17:09
  The Million Dollar Quartet opens at Meadowbrook Theatre on April 22nd and runs through May 17th, so get your tickets now and we'll see you at the show.