Show: This Is Elvis
Format: Musical
Genre: Comedy Drama
Date: April 24 2018
Location: Empire Theatre, Liverpool
This is our review of This Is Elvis at Liverpool‘s Empire Theatre. So, let’s take a look at This Is Elvis!
This Is Elvis
Description Of This Is Elvis
In an interview I conducted with Steve Michaels, star of This Is Elvis (which you can read by clicking here), he told me that the show would educate people on stories they hadn’t heard about The King at a pivotal time in his life. This definitely proved to be the case, in a production that lived up to the hype and delivered a thoroughly good night of entertainment.
We received an introduction by Bill Kenwright, producer of the show, to explain that one character had broken his foot that day, but insisted on being on stage on the guitar. Kenwright spoke to several attendees nearby during the evening, and was respectful about the fact that a certain local rival team were playing (and winning) a huge football match a mile or so away.
Backdrop
Now back to the show: it began with the band playing in front of a full backdrop of Elvis in lights. Steve Michaels, playing the title role, was dressed in black leather (as Elvis was in the original comeback TV special), and we were treated to a melody of his early songs; Elvis was seated on a stool surrounded by ladies sitting at his feet.
The story then unfolds that Elvis had been making films for the last 10 years. He had lost his confidence for appearing live, as it had been so long. His marriage was in trouble, he had trouble sleeping, and he was surrounded by a group of men affectionately knowing as the Memphis Mafia.
In conversation with his friend Joe Esposito, he revealed how he missed his mother, who used to remind him when he said he couldn’t do things. Her advice was “Do it for me and your brother Jesse Garon!” (This was Elvis’ twin brother who was stillborn.) He used this encouragement when he was feeling vulnerable. He was not a happy person, to say the least.
Comeback
Elvis always did as his manager (Colonel Tom Parker) wanted, and his idea was for a huge comeback special on the small screen. Elvis went ahead with it, and the comeback special proved to be a great success. It gave Elvis the feeling that he wanted to stop making movies and go back to performing, albeit in small arenas. He told the Colonel this, who said he would make such arrangement.
However, instead of doing what Elvis wanted, his manager set up a season of performances in the International Hotel in Las Vegas. This horrified Elvis, but Joe Esposito explained that the Colonel was a bad gambler. Therefore, it suited him to be in casinos. And so the shows ultimately went ahead.
We see that at the practice sessions prior to the show, Presley became very nervous and uncomfortable. He bought in new backing singers The Sweet Inspirations, who were very good. He also tried new songs such as Bridge Over Troubled Water to vary up his routine. Unfortunately, though, his sleeping pill addiction was not getting better. And we as the audience are wondering how Elvis will cope with these potentially career-defining shows. The rest, as they say, is history.
Analysis Of This Is Elvis
Steve Michaels was authentic. He looked and sounded like Elvis, with a trademark white suit in the latter stages. And he had a spot-on demeanour and mannerisms. Amongst the tunes, It’s Now Or Never and Peace In The Valley are very good. And he would deliver emotional renditions of If I Can Dream and In The Ghetto. As usual, a lady ran from the crowd to grab a kiss!
Elsewhere, there were a couple of comedy elements throughout the show. The use of trumpets, guitars and drums were all excellent. And the crowd became more involved as the production went on. Towards the end, the audience was up on their feet for Viva Las Vegas and Polk Salad Annie. Indeed, the second half was livelier and had more people clapping and dancing. The grand finale of American Trilogy and I Can’t Help Falling In Love was fabulous. And a lady was given his red scarf as a memento (as Elvis himself would do).
Summary Of This Is Elvis
If you’re a big Elvis fan, and you want to know more about his personal life and his emotions during the years which turned him from a top-class singer into an all-time legend, This Is Elvis will be great for you.
