Elvis Birthday Tribute
When: Jan. 7.
Where: Connor Palace at Playhouse Square, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.
Tickets: $10 to $47.
Info: playhousesquare.org or 216-771-4444.
Each new year we make our resolutions, the ball drops, and we focus on all things new. But one custom remains that centers on reliving the past.
Elvis Presley’s birthday.
The king of rock ’n’ roll would have been lighting up his birthday cake with 83 candles this year.
Reliving his legacy at Playhouse Square happens each year with the Elvis Birthday Tribute, an experience that captures a freakishly accurate snapshot of each iconic phase of his career. This year it takes place one day before his birthday, Jan. 7.
If you think you love the guy, imagine the life of an Elvis impersonator. These men essentially eat, sleep and breathe Elvis every day of the year.
New to the lineup of Elvises this year is Dean Z, the stage name of Dean Zeligman a past champion of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist contest — an “American Idol”-like competition for impersonators that’s sanctioned by Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc.
He recalls the first time he saw Elvis on television.
“That one moment kind of changed my life,” Zeligman says.
Zeligman was just 3 years old when he caught a glimpse of Elvis wearing his cape and assumed he was a superhero.
“I started dancing on our coffee table, and that was the beginning of my lifelong journey.”
From there, his parents placed him in one talent show after another. Luckily for Zeligman, his parents were in the garment industry in Los Angeles and created him mini replicas of Elvis’ costumes.
Now he tours as Elvis all over the world.
As he matured as an impersonator, Zeligman learned to carefully craft his own Elvis essence.
“As an actor, I learned how to hold my face in certain ways that make me look more like Elvis from the stage and give audiences that little glance, that little moment where they might see it. I really try to give them the feeling more than anything else.”
The response from his audiences says it all.
Zeligman is often mobbed as relentlessly as Elvis was, he says.
“I’ve been in positions before where I’m like, ‘Did that just really happen?’ They might kind of forget that you’re wearing a wedding ring.”
Uncomfortable as it may be at moments, it’s probably a good sign that everyone is buying into it.
“The show is built around the audience interaction with the scarves, the kisses on the cheek to the ladies who come up for a scarf or a handshake or whatever. It is really interactive.”
It’s not solely about getting ladies all shook up, however.
“It gives people a reprieve from the day-to-day life. We have some people that are terminally ill that come (to) see a show, and by the end, they are dancing. They forget. Or if we have a child with a disability that feels like a superhero when he gets the scarf or a ring from one of the guys on stage, that’s the sort of stuff chokes you up because you never know what people are going through.”
Aside from a huge lineup of Elvis impersonators from each corner of Presley’s career — Zeligman is tackling the movie portion for this show — the Playhouse Square show also features Presley’s own backup singers, former members of the Stamps Quartet, Larry Strickland and Donnie Sumner.
Sumner is the nephew of the late J. D. Sumner, who was known as the world’s lowest bass singer.
Sumner spent plenty of time with Presley toward the end of his life but says he never expected to lose him so soon.
“I just kind of took it for granted at the time. I didn’t realize how blessed I was until several years after he passed away.”
Presley often would make Sumner and the other members of the group sing with him until early hours of the morning. Was it tiring?
“Well, at the time, it was a little bit tiring. But I’ll tell ya the truth: If he was still alive, I’d sing to him all night.”
Now a preacher in Tennessee (although he prefers the term “motivator”), Sumner enjoys being a part of this show and celebrating Presley’s’ life and career.
In his deep Southern accent, Sumner reflects on Elvis as “the richest, most talented, best-looking truck driver I ever knew in my life.” (Truck driving was Presley’s first gig out of high school.)
Superhero, truck driver, whatever he was to you, the spirit of Elvis lives on in Cleveland on Jan. 7.
Elvis Birthday Tribute
When: Jan. 7.
Where: Connor Palace at Playhouse Square, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.
Tickets: $10 to $47.
Info: playhousesquare.org or 216-771-4444.
Don’t miss
>> ‘Moana,’ ‘Frozen’ characters skating into The Q with Disney on Ice’s ‘Dare to Dream’
>> So-so ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ unlocks sufficient scares | Movie review