Elvis rocks SLO

Cayce Clayton was in the middle of “Peace in the Valley” — a gospel song made famous by Elvis — when my wife leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“That’s not him,” she said, thinking: How lame.

I looked at her to see if she was joking.

“What?”

She repeated: “That’s not him.”

I nodded. Not only had I interviewed Clayton, but I’d watched him rehearse the song.

“It’s him,” I said.

She looked at Clayton, then back to me. “How is that possible?”

Clayton may be a high school kid. But during Saturday’s performance of “Blue Suede Shoes Elvis, the Early Years” at the SLO Little Theater, Clayton was The King. He crooned during the ballads, he shook his hips during the rockers, and he proved that confidence doesn’t always come with age.

As good as he was, though, Clayton didn’t carry the show.

The entire cast did.

I’ve seen the last three installments of the Little Theater’s Legend series – the previous two spotlighting Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash – and this one was easily the best. Which says a lot; Those other two were quite impressive. But this one amped up the fun, featuring top-notch choreography, several laugh-out-loud moments and multiple actors who stole their scenes.

To say this show could play at a bigger venue, like the PCPA, is simply not enough.

This one ought to be on the road.

Of course, that’d be hard, given that most of the actors either have to go to high school or their day jobs during the week. Still, when you hear people say things like, “OH MY GOD — I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW GOOD THAT WAS!” as they leave, you know there’s something special about it.

Now, of course, it helps that it was Martini Night. With liquor flowing freely, you can bet there was a buzz in the air — and not all of it was due to excitement about the play. Still, the actors fed off the crowd’s enthusiasm (and it was enthusiastic) and let loose.

When I attended rehearsals, a couple of weeks before opening night, I knew it was going to be a good show, but it was just a rehearsal.

There was room for improvement.

But wow. I’m amazed at how much better it got in such a short time.

Given that the young Elvis (Jonathan Eidson) is actually taller than older Elvis (Clayton), the transition was a bit odd. But Eidson aptly portrayed young Elvis’ naïve innocence, while Clayton nailed Presley’s honed swagger. So it worked.

I could give kudos to a dozen other people in the show, but that’d be boring. So
I’ll stick to the biggest highlights:

* LC Smith’s role as Marion Keisker, co-owner of Sun Records, was a hoot and a half. Sometime between the rehearsal and the play, she took her character to a new level. From the second she took the stage, her vivacious, lovelorn Keisker had the crowd grinning and wondering what she’d do next.
* Randy Hose played the crowd like an improv comedian. As the whiskey-drinking Memphis DJ Dewey Weber, Hose was pumped, like a man on a coffee bender. Every time he let out a southern-tinged “Yeah, man!” the crowd broke up laughing and cheered for more. Hose’s character was so genuine and casual, it seemed like he had to be ad libbing.
* Randy Pound was loud, boisterous and self-serving — just as we’d expect from Col. Tom Parker. I agreed with my wife, who said he was like a character from the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
* Debi Lewis’ turn as Ann-Margret was so hot, I almost had to dump a bucket of cold water on the guys behind me. Needless to say, they were fans of the costuming for that segment.
* I won’t give away too much here, but the second act — the cabaret part — begins with a very clever spoof on the cult of Elvis.

The play was once again written by artistic director Mary Meserve, who added a series of smart one-liners to a succinct telling of Elvis’ early years. The theater’s executive director, Donna Sellars, designed the costumes, and she obviously put a lot of work into this one. Add to that a rocking band that made it look too easy and kinetic choreography, and you’ve got a show that’s exemplary on multiple levels.

This all sounds a bit glowing, I know. But, trust me — I’m not one of those people who’s easily impressed. In fact, I’ve been grousing a lot lately about mediocrity in the entertainment scene. So this was just refreshing. And to think it was in a 100-seat theater right here in San Luis Obispo.

Hopefully this show will return in a bigger venue this summer, because it needs to be seen by more people. Maybe more than once. In fact, another person behind me had seen it five times.

And you know what? It’s worth it.

--Pat P.