Centrestage - Entertainment Port Elizabeth

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ELVIS - The Wonder of You - Back by Popular Demand

IF any fan of compilation musicals has been wondering exactly how Gary Hemmings' Centrestage organisation could top the phenomenal success the group has enjoyed in 2007, not only in the usual stamping grounds of Port Elizabeth and East London, but also Cape Town, Durban and the National Arts Festival at Grahamstown with soldout presentations like The Magnificent 7 I and II and Lively Up Yourself, the answer is of course - ELVIS

This full-stage show, in its earlier segments, will be headlined by Port Elizabeth's own Rory McLaren, as the original rock 'n roll, US Army and movie Elvis.
Durban-based star, Danny Fisher, who is renowned as one of the finest impersonators of the King of Rock to be seen on South African stages, will then take over to portray the later, Las Vegas, Presley.
With a supporting cast of 15 - the biggest yet seen in a Centrestage show and featuring Danny Fisher's daughters Joanne and Danielle among the backup vocalists - this number will also include the Centrestage All-Star Band, fronted by Donovan Hattingh on lead guitar - a group now acknowledged by the KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape media as " the best band in the land" - which will again, as in The Magnificent 7 II, be augmented by a brass section.

Hattingh will also function as musical director for this colourful show devised by Gary Hemmings and staged by Lynette Collett.

As for the musical content, this will consist of 30-plus songs from the extensive catalogue of Elvis successes, from the early megahits like Blue Suede Shoes, Heartbreak Hotel, Teddy Bear and Hound Dog, through the big-selling film standards such as Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas to the more unusual items including The Impossible Dream and Burning Love.

And, of course, along the way there will be stops for such winners as Suspicious Minds, In the Ghetto, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Gi Blues, Always on My Mind, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me and, naturally, American Trilogy, plus the gospel-flavoured Elvis of How Great Thou Art - to name but a few.

Given the immense perennial appeal of Elvis Presley, through all the stages of his 20-year career from 1956 to his death in 1977 and on to the present day, Elvis: The Wonder of You looks set to become another box office winner for Centrestage and a certain all-ages crowd-pleaser.