Memphis in Orange County

Back in July when the Mister and I went to New York to visit his family and to celebrate our anniversary, we had just one day allotted to see a Broadway show and Memphis was on the list of "must see". Unfortunately, the available times and the amount of the tickets didn't agree with us so we had to forgo the idea.

Four months later, back in L.A., I had the opportunity to snag some FREE tickets to see Memphis on opening night at Orange County's Segerstrom Arts Theater, courtesy of Yelp and my Elite status! If you're a Yelper, you know that one of the perks of being an Elite member is all the free events and swag we get throughout the year. As a 4 time Elite member, I can attest to many of my social calendar being filled by Yelp.

Swag with our tickets (Photo by Gurl in LA)

What I love about the Segerstrom, after having been here a few times already is that you don't have to fight the L.A. traffic to get here, and the parking isn't too shabby either if you decide to park across the street at South Coast Plaza. Which also means a little bit of a walk from the parking lot to the theater entrance.  The theater is pretty big, seating close to 3,000 in capacity.  We didn't get the best seats but I believe any seat in the theater is good.

The synopsis of the musical is set in the 1950's underground scene of African-American rock and roll in Memphis, when one night a white man stumbles into a club and discovers a talented African-American singer and manages to promote her music and talent through his job at a radio station.  Later, they fall in love even though interracial relationships was looked down upon, dangerous even, but their love for each other and for music, kept them together. The casting was absolutely amazing, with lots of talented singers and dancers, many of those who were hitting such high notes that even I was getting nervous that one of them might choke. I do have to admit that the ending of the musical seemed a bit awkward but maybe because I was still expecting more.

Wonderful cast, great story, beautiful theater. Memphis at the Segerstrom runs until November 18th, 2012 so get your tickets!