MEMPHIS Lives in Illinois, Part Two

If you are just joining us, you are in the middle of us reporting on what happened when producer John Yonover brought three of the original Broadway stars of MEMPHIS, Derrick Baskin “Gator,” J. Bernard Calloway “Delray,” and James Monroe Iglehart “Bobby,” all out to surprise the company of high school actors working on MEMPHIS as part of the Illinois All-State Theatre association.

If you missed it, you can catch up with Part One here.

Now that we are all on the same web-page so to speak, once we crashed their “Change Don’t Come Easy” number, it was time for a little show and tell.

First up was John Clay as “Delray” who performed “She’s My Sister” with Nathan Salstone as “Huey” while J. Bernard watched. THEN J. Bernard got up and did the number with Nathan. Or should I say towering over Nathan. It was pretty awesome.

The “Delrays”

Then, always one to find “zero” or center stage, James M. Iglehart got up to perform “Big Love” with Adrian Rochelle and the ladies of the Cavalcade. I actually kind of like the number as a duet…

The “Bobbys”

Without any sort of dramatic transition, we jumped from “Big Love” into “Say A Prayer.” High School “Gator,” Eyeri Cabrea-Loos, handled it like a pro- even with a pro like Derrick Baskin right there! It was a beautiful moment and the exchange between the two of them after the number was over is one of my favorite moments- of course I got it on video!

The “Gators”

We only get a quick glimpse of De’jah Perkins, “Felicia” in this “Say a Prayer” clip and we didn’t get to hear her sing for us, but rumor has it, this girl is for real. Just a quick shout out to De’jah!

For your viewing pleasure of the moments I have described above, have a look at this MEMPHIS montage video below!