NSMT’s new Elvis musical: Long live The King

By Rich Fahey

BEVERLY – Has there ever been any other cultural icon whose career seemed to still be skyrocketing after he left this earth and whose grip on the American public has never loosened?

Some 46 years after his death, Elvis Presley’s music can be heard everywhere  and 500,000 people are drawn each year to his Graceland mansion in Memphis, making the mansion the second most famous home in the U.S. next to the White House.   

The 2022 movie “Elvis” grossed almost $300 million worldwide.

That means the new bio-musical “Elvis: A Musical Revolution” at the North Shore Music Theatre through Nov. 12 started its run on third base and has already slid safely into home.

Fans of “The King” are flocking to Beverly, and a recent matinee show appeared to be a sell-out.

“Elvis” benefits from an electrifying performance in the title role by young Dan Berry, a recent graduate of the University of Oklahoma who is able to effectively channel the singer vocally, with top-notch renditions from the Great Elvis Songbook. They are all here in some form or fashion, but the most effective might be one tender ballad, with Elvis crooning “Can’t Help Falling in Love” to his baby daughter Lisa Marie.

The show, which was authorized by Elvis Presley Enterprises, benefits from a well-constructed book by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti, based on a concept by Floyd Mutrix, with musical arrangements and orchestrations by Abbinanti. It covers the time period of a young Elvis growing up poor in Tupelo, Miss. and then Memphis, to Elvis’s triumphant comeback special in 1968 in the midst of the British Invasion.

The role of the young Elvis is nearly as important as Berry’s, as the young Elvis is  also a part of several important flashback scenes. Patrick Naughton, who shares the role with Asher Stern, is called upon not only to portray the character but sing, and he does both beautifully. He also is integral in showing how Elvis developed his early roots in gospel and rhythm and blues, and the role they played in his success.

Mary Callanan is a rock of support as Gladys Presley, who loved and supported her son and his career from an early age, and whose death rocked Elvis’s world; she also appears in several flashbacks. Kevin McGlynn’s several roles include father Vernon Presley, whose relationship with his son cools after his wife’s death and his eventual remarriage.

David Coffee, performing for the 63^rd time at NSMT, begins his late fall residency  as Col. Tom  Parker, the controversial manager who helped guide Elvis to fame and fortune but whose control of his career Elvis came to resent bitterly. The scenes between he and Berry as Elvis when things start to go south are powerful stuff. And Coffee even gets a chance to swivel his hips with the rest of the cast in “Burnin’ Love.”

Bronson Norris Murphy has two nice turns as Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, forced to sell Elvis’s contract to Parker to save his business, and Frank Sinatra, paired with Elvis at a TV special.

The women in Elvis’s life are also portrayed effectively by Alaina Mills as young girlfriend Dixie Locke and the glamorous star Ann-Margret and Emma Wilcox as wife Priscilla Presley,

Co-musical director Robert Rucinski directs the nine-piece orchestra that I’m sure appreciated rockin’ out to some of the best rock ‘n roll tunes ever recorded, with more than 40 Elvis hits and iconic songs featured, including “That’s All Right,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “All Shook Up,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Burning Love,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Earth Angel,” “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Are You Lonesome,” and “Blue Suede Shoes.”

It’s all in the trusty hands of NSMT Artistic Director Kevin P. Hill, who directs and choreographs some boffo production numbers for his 30-person cast, including “This Train is Bound For Glory,” featuring Alfie Parker Jr. as Rev Brewster, “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Heartbreak Hotel.”

 “Elvis: A Musical Revolution” is an exciting, original, worthy tribute to The King of Rock and Roll. Long live The King.

The North Shore Music theatre production of “Elvis: A Musical Revolution.” Book by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti, based on a concept by Floyd Mutrix, with musical arrangements and orchestrations by Abbinanti. Directed and choreographed by Kevin P. Hill. Scenic design by Kyle Dixon. Lighting by Jack Mehler. Sound by Travis Berg. Costumes by Travis Grant. Wig and hair design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt. Costume coordination by Kathy Baker.  At the North Shore Music Center through Nov. 12. Nsmt.org.