'Lorraine' tells the story of historic motel through 1960’s music, depiction of civil rights movement

“Lorraine,” a stage play that focuses on the history of the Lorraine Motel before MLK’s assassination, runs Sept. 23-24, at the Riverside EpiCenter. (Photo courtesy of Inkwell Pictures)

The history of the Lorraine Motel, located in downtown Memphis, holds a monumental space in America’s history for a tragic reason.

The two-floor facility, formerly known as Marquette Hotel, was a haven for African-American travelers, civil rights leaders, and celebrities before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of the hotel in 1968.

The significance of the Green Book Motel prior to King’s assassination is now the focus of the stage play “Lorraine.” The musical production will run four shows this weekend at the Riverside EpiCenter in Austell, Ga.

On Friday’s edition of “Closer Look,” show host Rose Scott talks with actors Durrell Lyons (plays civil rights activist, Ralph David Abernathy) and Ivory Shields (plays fictional motel staffer, “Raylene”) about the musical production that takes audiences on a journey through the civil rights movement and the social transformations of the era.