'Memphis' is in movie theaters for a 4-day run while it's on Broadway

How often does a Broadway musical pop up in a closed-circuit, high-definition video presentation at movie theaters, priced at a mere $20 a ticket, when the selfsame show is still pulling in lots of spectators in New York (for six to eight times the price) after 650 performances, and the producers haven't even sent the touring version out on the road?

Like never, until "Memphis," the original rock-, soul- and gospel-tuned theatrical that's landing on area screens tomorrow for a brief, four-day run.

Closed-circuit event specialists NCM Fathom "convinced us it would be good for branding, for name recognition," said show composer David Bryan in a recent chat. And he should know about such things from his other gig as keyboardist in Bon Jovi, which Bryan modestly calls "the biggest rock band in the world."

Plus, there's no time like the present to be touting "Memphis" as the "Tony Winning Best Musical of the Year." Come June 12, that distinction will be passed along to another production.

"This isn't a show based on a popular film or book or character, so it doesn't have name recognition," said Bryan, who spent almost a decade creating and fine-tuning the show with book and lyrics collaborator Joe DiPietro.

But, given exposure, "Memphis" has the power to create quite a buzz, Bryan believes, with its account of life in the 1950s South with music-centric core characters - a white DJ and an African-American singer - who break down color bars and fall in love.

"It's set in a time when it was illegal for interracial couples to be married," said the composer. "The idea of seeing this reminds, shows us how ridiculous racism is. But the underlying purpose of the show is entertainment. It's not delivered with a heavy hand. And it's really history viewed through modern eyes."

That holds true for Bryan's score. The guy is well versed in classic southern soul music, harking back to his teenage years in Edison, N.J., when Bryan started playing with Jon Bon Jovi in a brassy 10-piece cover band called Atlantic City Expressway "that did all the Stax/Volt hits, like 'Knock On Wood' and 'Hold On, I'm Coming.'

"And, yeah, there are moments in the show, songs in the second half with the five-piece horn section laid on top, that are meant to evoke those times. But some of those chord changes we throw in weren't used then. They're more sophisticated. I wrote the songs thinking in terms of the characters, not in terms of particular artists or period."

With his tunes given short shrift in the Bon Jovi repertoire, Bryan loves that he's got "23 songs getting covered eight times a week" in "Memphis," numbers that will double when the road-show production opens in the namesake city come October. (It's booked here at the Academy of Music next Jan. 17-22.)

He and DiPetro are working on a follow-up, "Chasing the Song," spinning around a semi-fictionalized "composite" pop songwriting team of the 1960s. "Raising another $12 million to put that one on should be a whole lot easier," Bryan shared with a laugh.

"Memphis" plays on-screen in high definition and 7.1 channel sound at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday; 12:30 p.m. Sunday, and next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at area theaters including the Regal Riverview Plaza, Regal King of Prussia 15, AMC Hamilton 24, AMC Neshaminy 24, Regal Marketplace@Oaks 24, Regal Warrington Crossing 22, and Regal Brandywine Town Center 16. The musical also plays at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Rave University 6 and tomorrow (only) at 7:30 p.m. at Rave Ritz Center 16. Tickets are $20, www.FathomEvents.com.