Elvis (musical)

*"Elvis" - The Musical*
"Elvis" - The Musical
	Original London Cast Recording
Music	Various Artists
Lyrics	Various Artists
Book	Jack Good ; Ray Cooney
Basis	The life and music of Elvis Presley
Productions	1977 West End 1996 West End

Elvis is a jukebox musical based upon the life of American singer Elvis Presley, conceived by and Ray Cooney (Producer and Co-Devisor) and Jack Good (Director and Co-devisor).^[1]^[2] It tells the story of Elvis's life and career, from the beginning until his death. The original cast included Shakin' Stevens, who later became the top-selling UK singles artist of the 1980s and Tracey Ullman.^[3]

Production history

1977 production

The original West End production opened on November 28, 1977, at the Astoria Theatre in London, which had been converted from a cinema especially for the show by Laurie Marsh.^[4]^[5]^[2] Elvis was portrayed by three performers: Tim Whitnall as Young Elvis, Shakin' Stevens as Middle Elvis in his army and movie star years and PJ Proby as Mature Elvis in his Las Vegas years. Proby was later replaced by Bogdan Kominowski. Live musical accompaniment was provided by the rock and roll revival group, Fumble.^[3] The production won the 1977 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical and played for 614 performances, closing in April 1979.^[6]^[7]^[8] (This can be confirmed by the fact that many of the cast went on to perform in the 1979, revival of Grease which previewed at the Bristol Hippodrome in May 1979).^[9] The show did a nine-month UK and Europe tour from December 1979, with full cast replacements except for Stevens and Kominowski, who briefly reprised their roles but were replaced during the tour by Bo Wills as Middle Elvis and Vince Eager as Mature Elvis.^[10]^[11] Touring commenced at the Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth and concluded at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh. International stops included Gothenburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Oslo, Amsterdam and Den Bosch.

Production team

Producer and co-devisor - Ray Cooney
Director and co-devisor - Jack Good
Designer - Patrick Robertson
Lighting - David Hersey
Costumes - Rosemary Vercoe
Sound - Autograph
AV - Ray Millichope
Musical Director - Keith Strachan
Musical Supervisor and co-writer - Harry Robinson
Assistant director - Annabel Leventon
Choreographer - Carole Todd

Cast

PJ Proby (listed as James Proby in programme) - Older Elvis (later replaced by Bogdan Kominowski)
Bogdan Kominowski - Older Elvis
Shakin' Stevens - Middle Elvis
Tim Whitnall - Young Elvis
Helen Baker - Singer and Dancer
Tanith Banbury - Singer and Dancer
Anna Macleod - Singer and Dancer
Yael O'Dwyer - Singer and Dancer
Tracey Ullman - Dance Captain and Singer / Dancer
Richard Ashley - Singer and Dancer
Paul Felber - Singer and Dancer
Stephen Leigh - Singer and Dancer
Richard Piper - Singer and Dancer
Shaun Simon - Singer and Dancer

Musicians

Keith Strachan^[12] (MD)
Sean Mayes
Mario Ferrari
Des Henly
Barry Pike
Ronnie Caryl
Bob Efford
Roy Truman
Paul Urwin
Mike Harding
Tony Hepworth
Mark Hutchins
Phil Todd

1996 production

In 1996, Bill Kenwright Ltd mounted a modified production at the Prince Of Wales Theatre, directed by Keith Strachan and Carole Todd.^[13] PJ Proby returned as Las Vegas Elvis, Tim Whitnall as mid-period Elvis, and Alexander Bar^[14] joined them as young Elvis. Various song changes were made to the initial 1977 production. After transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre in 1997,^[15] the show toured the UK until 2000.^[16]

Musical numbers

Source:^[17]

References

^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The encyclopedia of popular music. London: Omnibus Press, in association with Muze. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. OCLC 804879997.
^ ^a ^b "Elvis 77". Keith Strachan. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
^ ^a ^b "FUMBLE in Elvis – The Musical". www.fumbleontheweb.com. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
^ "The Astoria Theatre, 157, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2". www.arthurlloyd.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
^ "Astoria | Theatres Trust". database.theatrestrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
^ "Evening Standard theatre awards: 1955-1979". Evening Standard. 2003-10-30. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
^ "London Musicals 1977" (PDF). Over The Footlights. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
^ Wintour, Charles (1980). Celebration: twenty-five years of British theatre. London: W.H. Allen. OCLC 558149839.
^ "Grease (London Revival, 1979)". www.ovrtur.com. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
^ Birmingham Hippodrome archives, Programme, Elvis The Musical tour, 16–28 June 1980.
^ Birmingham Hippodrome archives, chronology of performances, 16–28 June 1980, Elvis The Musical tour.
^ Keith Strachan Musical director of 1977 production and co-director of 1996 production.
^ "London Musicals 1996" (PDF). Over The Footlights. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
^ Alexander Bar
^ "London Musicals 1997" (PDF). Over The Footlights. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
^ Birmingham Hippodrome archives, chronology of performances, 21–26 April 1997, Elvis The Musical tour.
^ "MusicalHeaven.com". Archived from the original on 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2009-12-02.

External links

Fumble Site devoted to the original house band.
Alexander Bar Site maintained by a star of the 1996 production, featuring clippings, photographs and promotional appearances.