The booming imitator industry is one of the strangest and most enduring in our knowledge of Elvis Presley. In fact, there’s an air of kitsch about the Tupelo-born singer that even Luhrmann’s glitz can’t hide. However, none of this can dampen the audience’s enthusiasm for the king of hip gyrations.
Elvis Aaron Presley is the epitome of modern celebrity, especially the youth-oriented celebrity that emerged as the baby boom generation went through childhood and adolescence. His arc, from youthful rebellious charm to run-of-the-mill mainstream to bloated middle-aged Vegas pastiche, is a classic tale of so-called stardom. It’s this that makes him so attractive to other artists. His story is both wonderful and mundane. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, there is a person waiting to be discovered.
For the creators of Australian-designed stage shows, Elvis Presley: A Musical Revolution, the challenge proved surmountable. Since opening last winter, they’ve toured across the country, winning rave reviews and the hearts of players. Now, a year later, they are preparing to return to Melbourne for the encore season. (Return based on popular demand etc.)
Michael Ralph, winner of a Green Room Award for his original choreography, is currently touring with the show as resident director. As one of the key creatives, he saw firsthand the tricky side of working with such a beloved and anticipated character.
Speaking to Dance Informa on the Gold Coast, where the show is being staged for the sixth time since its premiere in Sydney in 2023, he told more details. “Creating anything that tampered with such a well-known character, show or product is always a challenge,” he began. “I’ve done a lot of biographical musicals, so, for me, I started trying to gain as much understanding as possible. I tried to watch as many videos on YouTube and read as many books as I could. And then I walked into A room and start looking at the actual content on the page, the music and the script that was produced and try to see what we actually want to say in it our Version. What Tone Do we want to take it?
However, as a choreographer, Ralph’s task is to transplant new dance movements to people and times with a clear dance language, without falling into mere imitation. As he recalls, “My contribution to this production, which was clearly a jukebox musical, was to find ways to use choreography to help tell the story.”
with the show host (formerly home and away Star Rob Mallett), Ralph needs to be especially careful. “The thing about Ives is that his movements are very natural. He doesn’t really Do choreographer. He acted on his feelings. It’s very much an organic way of responding to music that stems from his upbringing and the black community where he grew up in the church, where he learned about music and how to move with feeling .
The same goes for other actors. Elvis Presley: A Musical Revolution Tracing King’s career from the breakout years of the 1950s to the now-famous 1968 “Comeback” special, it recreates many of the popular social dances of the time.
Here again, the mixture of nostalgia and orthodoxy arouses the audience’s expectations. As Ralph said, “People had their own ideas about how the 50s and 60s should move, and I guess I tried to absorb as much of that vocabulary as possible so that people would find it to be true, but then find a way Arrange the words in a way that makes the audience feel something other than nostalgia.
Bringing the milk bar and dance hall jams to the main stage was another level of challenge. In terms of choreography, Ralph and the actors tried to find a balance between naturalism and good technique. While the 2024 musical theater version adds a layer of accuracy, it still carefully maintains faith in the original.
“What are they did There’s a lot of 40s, 50s, 60s feel and rhythm,” Ralph noted. “They’re moving without a lot of ‘judgement’ about what they’re doing…and then I use that to inspire what I perform on stage, other than maybe making it more impressive.”
As someone who now has amazing abilities five The Green Room Award is named after him, and his resume covers cat arrive Legally Blonde arrive So, do you think you can dance?Ralph was used to both the expectation of creativity and the need for novelty. His role is related to Elvis Presley: A Musical Revolutionhe observes, “It feels like you’re giving the performer a roadmap, or some shapes or signature moves that people might expect, but essentially the artist has to fit into it themselves. They have to make it their own blueprint, and Act within the blueprint as if it is organic and not overly programmed; even if it is thoroughly put.
This may be true of all dance performances, but with Elvis and the iconography surrounding him and that era, it’s amplified. However, as industry awards, five-star reviews, and sold-out seasons indicate, Michael Ralph, Rob Mallett, and crew have found the right combination; perhaps giving us something better than The Rock and Roll Encore Something more subtle.
Elvis Presley: A Musical Revolution It will run at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theater from July 27 to August 11. To purchase tickets, please click here.
By Paul Ransom of Dance Informa.
