The new Broadway show "Memphis" is heating up the Great White Way with help from Bon Jovi rocker David Bryan. NY1's Roma Torre filed the following review.

"Memphis," which has been kicking around for years, has its flaws but its strengths outweigh them. It’s a book musical with tremendous performances, an infectious score, excellent direction, wonderful choreography, an engaging story and a pretty good book.

It's all about a misfit named Huey Calhoun, a fictional character, who integrates so-called race music into white 1950's Memphis society. Illiterate and broke when we first meet him, he wanders into a black club where he is instantly smitten with both the music and a singer named Felicia. Determined to share the songs with a bigger audience, he manages to get a job on a radio station where he starts to introduce the so-called Negro sound.

Obstacles abound, chiefly racism from all sides, but Huey manages to overcome them through sheer force of personality and perseverance.

So far, so good. The show is a knockout up to this point. But then it starts to lose steam. The book by Joe DiPietro is missing a strong climax and the end feels tacked on. That aside, "Memphis" is so loaded with talent, it almost seems pointless to criticize. The music by Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan with an assist from DiPietro on lyrics is full of the kind of soul Huey sings about. Whether it's R&B, gospel or rock and roll, the songs recall the hits of the era. And Sergio Trujillo adds a powerful visual stimulus with some dazzling choreography.

The cast is sensational. Each of the principles is given a solo number and they nail it. Cass Morgan as Huey's redneck mom, J Bernard Calloway as Felicia's protective brother and James Monroe Iglehart, a janitor with hidden talents are standouts. But it's the two leads, Chad Kimball and Montego Glover who steal our hearts in this one. Kimball crafts quite a character with Huey, a rough hewn cracker -- make that firecracker -- who burns exceedingly bright on that stage. And Glover is equally impressive -- a fine actress with a voice that blows the roof off the joint.

"Memphis" is bound to bring other shows to mind -- "Hairspray," "Dreamgirls" and even "A Chorus Line." And while not perfect, thanks in large part to director Christopher Ashley, it's a true original that stands on its own. "Memphis," quite simply, rocks.