"ELVIS": the rock musical about the end
. . . sorry . . . the rock musical to end all rock musicals.YES FOLKS, the show will go on! Despite a frantic rush to complete rehearsals and dress rehearsals in the month available the eagerly awaited musical 'Elvis' will have opened as planned on Monday 28 November.
Featuring no less 87 numbers the show - directed by sixties TV producer of 'Oh Boy' fame - promises to be, at the very least, an entertaining look at the Elvis Presley legend. It's not a send - up, we are assured, and is "a very visual show, featuring incredible concepts such as lasers, light shows and smoke bombs . . . . . ."
This description or the treats in store comes from none other than Shakin' Stevens, the singer with the Sunsets who was selected to play the "middle period" Elvis.
He states: "When I first heard about it I didn't want to be part of it - I didn't want to be part of anything that was a send up. But Jack Good has done a good job; it's an honest and sincere tribute."
Shaky is joined by 16 year old Tim Whitnell a schoolboy from Bury St. Edmunds, as "young Elvis", and ex - pop singer P. J. 'Jim' Proby completes the picture as Elvis in Vegas.
Only Shaky and Tim are doing any interviews at present (although P. J. will start after the show starts), but they both feel that the others are right for the part. There have been problems, inevitably, and the fast moving routines of the show caused a bit confusion at the outset, but as they say in the theatre, it's all down to good luck and being all right on the night.
"I think people will come and see the show because it is British," ventures Tim. "You would have expected the Americans to do it - what can you say? We were first and there's been nothing quite like it . . . . ever."
"Obviously there's never been anything quite like Elvis." ands Shaky. "He's appealed to everyone from people in prams to people in wheelchairs. As long as people realise it's genuine there's no reason why they shouldn't come and see it."
Which takes care of the show's run. What about their own careers? For Tim it's a big break. For Proby it's a sort of comeback.
Shaky? "I've thought about my own career - in fact I'm recording an album next week," he says. "But when it comes down to it the West End, with a big show, is bigger than Cardiff or Sheffield!"
The Cast, Ray Cooney (producer), Jack Good (director) and Keith Strachan (musical director) await your approval.
No muck - raking. Fast and furious action. Non stop music. 'Elvis.' Perhaps that's the way it ought to have been. (To be reviewed).
