In rock 'n' roll lore, few tales can match the serendipity of the Million Dollar Quartet.
Carl Perkins was scheduled to be at Sun Records in Memphis one day in December 1956 to record a follow-up to his hit "Blue Suede Shoes."
So was session pianist Jerry Lee Lewis -- still almost a year away from releasing the frenzied "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On," the landmark tune that put him on the map.
But when Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash both separately dropped in on the session unannounced, the meeting quickly went from incidental to iconic.
That legendary gathering -- and the unmistakable sound of rock 'n' roll's infancy -- is featured in the musical "Million Dollar Quartet," set for a six-day, eight-show run starting Tuesday at the Atwood Concert Hall.
After a successful two-year run on Broadway starting in 2010, the musical went on its first national tour, with its current leg set to conclude this summer.
Scott Moreau, who portrays Cash, has been there since the beginning of the tour.
"I was doing a show out in Pennsylvania," he said. "I've been a big Cash fan for quite a while. I'd been following it on Broadway and once they said they were doing auditions, I took a trip on the train with my guitar. After four or five callbacks, they said, 'We want you to do the tour.' "
Moreau started as the understudy for Cash and Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who had all four of the artists on the Sun label and recorded the nearly 50 songs the quartet played at their impromptu jam session.
The lengthy stint on the show has allowed Moreau to develop a nuanced portrayal of the beloved artist.
"I think I attack him as a real person," Moreau said. "There's never any sort of a caricature. It's not an impression. I'm a big fan so I treat his story and legacy with a lot of respect."
The musical was written by Floyd Mutrux and Colin Escott, who also authored the definitive book "Sun Records: The Brief History of the Legendary Recording Label."
Escott's book relayed the story of how the short-lived group earned its name -- an article about the recordings that appeared in a Memphis newspaper was headlined "Million Dollar Quartet" and featured the now-infamous photo of Presley at a piano surrounded by the other musicians.
"He's the authority on Sun Records," Moreau said of Escott. "He literally wrote the book on Sun Records. What he did was construct the show using 18 months of history. Of course everyone would like to be a fly on the wall for that one night, but theatrically it wouldn't be that interesting watching these guys pass around guitars and play gospel songs. He uses flashbacks -- how each of the icons walked into Sun for the first time and tried to get Sam Phillips to record them."
The show's music ranges from those gospel standards to rock hits of the day like "Brown-eyed Handsome Man" and includes hits from each of the respective artists in the quartet.
"We are a Broadway show but you aren't going to turn these songs into showtunes," Moreau said. "We try to play them as close to the recorded version as humanly possible. It's not as daunting anymore, but because (Cash) and Elvis were such big icons, it's easy for people to assume they know everything about them. I try to capture him the best I know of how he was in 1956."
The cast performs all of the music live, with the four main actors backed by a rhythm section of drums and upright bass.
The musical closes with signature numbers by each of the four members of the quartet.
The show was nominated for a Tony in the Best Musical category in 2010, and actor Levi Kreis won Best Performance by a Featured Actor for his portrayal of Lewis.
Although its run is coming to an end, Moreau said the musical has opened other doors for his career, including a recent guest spot on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire."
Moreau said most of the feedback he's received focuses on personal associations with the music.
"When I get to talk to audience members after the show, the overwhelming thing I hear is how great it is to step back in time and remember those songs and those times," Moreau said. "It brings back a flood of memories. It's a powerful thing to bring people back to a simpler or better time."
Million Dollar Quartet
When: Tuesday, March 17, to Sunday, March 22
Where: Atwood Concert Hall
Tickets: $49.25-$80.50 at centertix.net